Chaos Mythologies
by Scarabbug
Summary: The issue of Chaos Control. Or Uncontrolled Chaos, as the case may be. It’s kind of hard to tell where Sonic and the Emeralds are concerned. Set after the final series of Sonic X. Latest: The revelation for the enemy... Sort of.
1. Introduction

**This is intended to be multi****-****chaptered, and is**** at least in part, being intuitively written (in other words, made up as I go – don't get me wrong there's a plot and an ending planned and everything, but I'm letting my brain take me on its own route there.

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**

Chaos Mythologies.

Intro.

_Once upon a time, there was __C__haos__, a__nd there were __the __worlds created from __it._

_These worlds were unique because they were not crafted __from the ground up__, the way most worlds are. They __experience__ no vital moment of __beginning, possess no mythology of __their __creation__, are Mythless,__ but__ they _are_. They exist__ after forming from __the __fragments of worlds __that are already in being__. They are the split ends of the __multiverse__. They __are, __and __yet __they __should not__ be__. They break the rules which __should not exist. _

_More importantly, these worlds are chaotic. More than chaotic –they _are_ Chaos personified and given the form of life, powerful and endless. But Chaos itself is not enough. Chaos alone is destruction, and must be tempered with endurance and peace. Chaos must be mastered, or else the ruin of all things shall occur. This is the way it has always been. Chaos is uncontrollable in many forms, yet without it, there could be no life. There could be no being._

_This is__ a secret. Don't tell anyone. _

_Here's another secret: __Chaos touched on other worlds __also. __The worlds from which the Mythless were created.__This __should__ not have happened, and yet it has. That is important. _

_Perhaps __then, __we should start over__. Begin this story differently. _

_Once upon a time, there was Chaos. And __Chaos shall be both__ the root of all things and the end of all things. __So it was written, so it shall be. _

_What more of __a__ story could__ possibly occur in the interim? _

_You'd be surprised._

_

* * *

_

_Three hours,__ fifteen minutes__, twenty five seconds... __C__ounting..._

It was waiting for something.

Knuckles knew this. He understood, to an extent, how the Master Emerald worked. All its nuances and plans were as complicated and carefully organized as any living creatures might be. People like Sonic might laugh at the idea of the Master Emerald being alive (_him of all people,__ he ought to know better than that, damn it, he's been _using_ the Chaos Emeralds__ himself__ for long enough_...) but Knuckles knew otherwise. The Emerald _thought_. The Emerald _knew_. And most of what it knew, it was honestly better that others didn't.

Knuckles had never drawn attention to these things. Some things you simply didn't question. It wasn't anyone's place to do so. So now, he sat before the glowing Emerald in the afternoon sunlight of the forest, and said nothing.

'So anyway, what's up with the Master Emerald, Knuc'ster?'

_Some_ people, however...

'Ngh.'

'Hey, is that anyway to greet a friend?'

_...Some_ people didn't have a lot of the respect they should have for a lot of things. As Sonic was demonstrating right at this moment. Even without opening his eyes and leaving his meditation state, Knuckles _knew _he going to see Sonic, probably lying on top of the Master Emerald like it was a sun lounger or something, and showing it absolutely no respect whatsoever.

'Yoo-hoo, Knuckles? Anyone at home in there? You didn't fall asleep on duty again, didja buddy?'

'_Murfle_.'

'What was that? Didn't catch it.'

Knuckles sighed and opened his eyes. Sure enough, there was Sonic. Using the Master Emerald as a sun lounger. Knuckles could practically feel its discomfort in the air.

Well, it's _discomfort_, certainly, but not its _rejection_. The Master Emerald would never reject Sonic the Hedgehog, no matter _how_ little consideration he showed it. 'I said that if you're planning on taking a nap somewhere, try and not make it in my immediate vicinity. Especially _not_ lying on top of one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy, Sonic. The Master Emerald isn't a park bench.'

'Maybe not,' Sonic said. 'But it's kinda comfy up here, you know? And warm, too, since it started glowing, all freaky like.' He swung his legs at high speed, battering the Emerald's side as he did so. Knuckles winched the way he imagined Cream's mother might if she caught Vector messing around with her fine china. 'Why _is_ it doing this, anyway?'

'Get _down_.'

Sonic looked at him, still grinning. _Always_ grinning, Knuckles thought. Even with the universe under threat it would take a lot to wipe the smile off that guy's face. 'Alright, alright. See, look; I'm down already, safe as houses.'

And he was. Now he was sitting halfway down the steps of the Temple, with his arms folded behind his head, looking upwards.

'The Temple steps aren't a part bench either.'

'Hey no fair, I've seen you lying here hundreds of times.'

'That's different. _I'm_ the Guardian.' Knuckles waited until he was sure that Sonic wasn't going to try and use the Master Emerald as a parking space again before he closed his eyes. 'Is there some particular reason you're here, Sonic, or did you just feel like bugging me?'

'Nah, no reason. I just had itchy feet, that's all. And it's a nice day, so I thought I'd run over and keep my good buddy company in his eternal -and eternally boring- task of Emerald Guardianship.'

'You _always_ have itchy feet. And what makes you think I'm **bored**?'

'The fact that you're half asleep?'

'I'm _not_ half asleep.'

'Ohhh. Then what are you?'

'...Thinking.'

'About _what_, sleeping?'

Knuckles sighed. It wasn't that he didn't like Sonic, but sometimes the hedgehog could be so frustrating that Knuckles had to wonder why Chaos Control had ever gone to him, of all people. And then he remembered Sonic saving the universe, Chaos' light changing his body from blue to gold, and he understood –appearances (and attitudes) could be deceiving. Sonic's certainly was.

'The fact that this is a solemn task of great importance might evade you, but not me. Not all of us need to be running around making up as many adventures as they possibly can every day. Some of us have duties to attend to.'

'Yeah I know. Sucks to be you, huh?' Sonic got up and zipped back up the steps to stand next to him again. 'There is one other reason I came out here, if you really wanna know. Though I figure you're not going to answer my question. You've already avoided answering it once.'

'What question might that be?' Knuckles muttered, finally relenting and opening his eyes. It wasn't like he was going to be able to focus so long as Sonic was running laps around the temple, anyway. Typical of him to skirt around his real reason for being here at high velocity.

'C'mon, Knuckles. You _know_ what it is: What's with the Emerald?'

'It's glowing?' Knuckles suggested, trying to input just the right amount of nonchalance into his voice, so that Sonic might decide that whatever it was, it wasn't important and go away.

Sonic's eyebrow went up. 'Uhuh?'

'That's pretty much as far as my knowledge of "What's with the Emerald?" goes, Sonic. It's glowing. It does this now and then, usually when something odd is going on cosmologically, but it's not necessarily anything for us to worry about.' Yet. 'That's all I know.'

'Yeah?' Sonic looked as if he didn't know whether he was satisfied with that answer or not. 'Well I'll tell ya what I know, buddy. _I_ know that the Chaos Control in me is itching almost as much as my feet.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, really. It wants out, or something. Feels like I need to go fight something, just for the heck of it. Seriously, what's going down here, Knuckles?'

So much for making him go away. 'If I knew I'd tell you,' Knuckles looked back at the Master Emerald, but trying all day to decipher what it was saying hadn't done him any particular good.

'Well can't you just _ask_ it or something?' Sonic asked, scratching his head in the manner of the eternally impatient.

'You don't honestly think it works like that, do you?'

'Well, you talk to it whenever you're doing your "servers" and "unifying" speech, what was I supposed to think? It always seemed to listen.' Sonic shrugged . 'Hey, trust me, buddy, there's no shame in talking to things that aren't really alive. I mean Cream holds conversations with her flower garden all the time.'

'_Sonic_...'

'What? I'm just saying, honest!' Sonic was biting back a laugh by this point. 'Besides it's not like you'd really be talking to something that isn't alive.'

'Of course not,' Knuckles muttered. 'You talk to Chaos Emeralds often, then?'

'Meh. Sometimes this one, when you're not around.'

Knuckles looked at him , trying to work out whether or not Sonic was being serious. He was smiling a little but then again, he usually was, so that didn't tell Knuckles anything. '...You talk to it _You_?'

'Why not? You've got a little bit of Chris in there, after all.'

Knuckles started to grunt, then stopped and blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'Yeah, he told me about it. About what happened to the rest of him when he shot through here? I know this this is where those extra years of his were kept.' Sonic patted the Emerald's side. The glistening light almost seems to rub off on the fingers of his gloves. 'So what I taslk to it, it kinda feels like I'm talking to him. I use it to talk to Cosmo, too. And anyone else who's not around anymore. It's not like them really _being_ here, but...'

'It... speaks to you, then?' Knuckles phrased the question as casually as he could, but Sonic's reaction was still as he had expected it would be.

'Uh, I wouldn't go _that_ far.' Now Sonic looked a little more embarrassed, as if realising just how crazy what he was saying sounded. 'That would be weird. And possibly really creepy. I'll leave that stuff to you Guardian types.'

_Darn__ hedgehog__ needs to be __clearer__ what he's saying_. Knuckles thought irritably. He tried to say this thought aloud, but was interrupted before he could begin by a sharp light slicing right through him. No pain, just light, so sudden that he could easily have imagined it had he not been certain that Sonic saw it too. The Master Emerald glistened with a single, brighter shine, running through the now dimming glow.

Sonic shuddered a little, but Knuckles knew that he was the only one who really understood what that glimmer meant. Sonic was just reacting to the Chaos inside and outside of him. It was pure coincidence while Knuckles' sensation was pure intuition. 'Yeeeah. Creepy, huh? Has it been doing that a lot, too?'

Knuckles considered a sharp retort, and then decided against it. 'A few times... I guess something really is happening.'

'Well whatever it is, it needs to happen faster already,' Sonic muttered, tapping one foot at a speed most beings couldn't even reach.

'Sonic, you think that _everything_ needs to go faster. If the world tried to keep up with you, it'd need a new planet egg every six months, or something.'

'Yeah there is _that_ in it,' Sonic nodded. 'I mean it's not like anyone or anything could ever keep up with me. So anyway, let me know if anything else weird happens with that thing?' He tipped his head at the Master Emerald with the same nonchalance he did most everything, but Knuckles could sense his hesitation nonetheless. Which was really quite something. Not many people could sense _anything_ from Sonic. He was hotwired up too fast for most peoples' intuition to cope with.

'Heh. Don't worry, I'll let you know if anything explodes.'

'Hey, no worries here, Knuckles. I'll probably know about it before it's even happened,' Sonic smiled at him, but Knuckles couldn't find it in him to return the gesture. 'Course, if I hear what sounds like you having an argument with the big, glowing rock...'

'Do you _mind_?'

'Alright, alright. Sheesh, some Echidnas.'

'Oh, like you _know_ any others.'

'Fortunately, nope.' Sonic gave the Emerald another pat as he turned to go. 'Later, Chris. Cosmo.'

Knuckles waited a few moments even after Sonic's speed blur has vanished into the forest, giving him a chance to get a good few miles away, before Knuckles let out the breath he had been holding and turned back to the Master Emerald.

'Alright, he's gone now. What do you have to show me?'

The Emerald flickered once more, brighter than before. And then he saw.

_Broken crystal glistening in moonlight. A planet. A world. A shell which could've hidden anything in its core. __Flashes of light__ in his eyes__, colliding in the air over and over__ again__ It seemed__ familiar... __A__ high speed battle, maybe? __Couldn't be anything else. A sky with half a moon. Bright eyes, belonging to no one __he could recognize –green eyes, Knuckles realised. Green and too bright to possibly be natural. A s__harp pain in the heart, not his own, but someone's, somewhere. A__ slow decent, and yet fast at the same time. A __broken chair. __A ring in someone's hands. _

_It's beginning. _

_Silence. _

The Emerald shimmered one last time before fading to a mere, dim glow, almost like that of it's usual self. Knuckles sucked in a breath, trying very hard to keep calm. The forest shifted in a light breeze. The sun kept shining. Everything appeared to be exactly as it should have been.

But appearances could be deceiving.

_Three hours, two minutes, fifty seconds... __S__till counting. __S__till waiting __for something. _

Knuckles sat down on the temple steps, arms folded, eyes closed, and waited with it.

* * *

**I am one of the minorit****y**** that actually does not hate Chris's guts. **

**Might be important to remember that.

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**


	2. One: Age Related Issues

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I'm honestly surprised that I updated this so quickly... no doubt this will prove to be my undoing and I'll have to come back and fix an awful lot of stuff later on, but then, I would probably have to do that anyway in the end. **

**So. Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit appreciated.

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**

One. 

_Just so you know? I'm not actually twelve years old. _

_I know I _look_ it. I know I sound it, too. But trust me on this: the graduate degree I'm currently in the middle of earning in physics and computer programming says otherwise. _

_It's a problem. I'm working on it. I figure that the next time there's an alignment with the Master Emerald and we're connected to the other world again, then... well, in the meantime, I just have to put up with it. Grandpa told me something about making the most of the extra six years, but it's kind of hard to do that when you're getting funny looks every time you try to get into a height or age restricted area. Oh, and it causes some serious problems whenever I need to perform experiments in one of the Graduate-Only Study Chambers. _

_I guess it's my own fault. And it's kind of worth it, really. Being like this, I mean. If I hadn't taken the risk of ending up six years younger than I should be, I would never have seen my friends again... _

_Sorry, but it's kind of a long story, and I don't have time to go into it right now. I'm waiting for a bus. Maybe later? _

Okay. So. _Preiston Building, Central Station Campus opposite the Memorial Garden, sixth floor up, first door on the left_...

* * *

The tutor ran her eyes over the list for perhaps the twentieth time since she'd stepped out of the parking lot. The directions she'd received at reception would probably be a lot more useful if she actually _knew_ where the Preiston building was in the first place. She was sure she'd parked her car in the right spot. This _was_ the middle of the City, Right? So this _had_ to be the Central Station Campus. But she wasn't seeing any topiary gardens, or buildings that looked as if they even _had_ at least six floors.

She groaned. Well, wasn't this going to look just _wonderful_? A brand new, fresh from the academy tutor, late for her very first day on the job. Fantastic. Like she _hadn't_ barely scraped acceptance into this post by the skin of her teeth and didn't need to be making any slip ups whatsoever anyway. Here she was, once again, reduced to wandering around aimlessly in a desperate hope that she might come across something that looked as if it belonged on her list of directions.

After half an hour of searching, however (looked like there had been no point whatsoever in getting up early today) she found nothing that looked like a memorial garden, except for a few scrubby bushes outside of a bus stop where a young boy was sitting looking up into the sky, and nothing that looked like it might be called "The Preiston Building". She was well and truly lost.

And were small children even allowed to use those bus stands?

She looked left and right, but there seemed to be no one else but herself and the boy in the immediate vicinity. He wasn't with his parents, and she couldn't for the life of her work out what he was doing here (it wasn't a school break this week, was it?) but he seemed to know where he was.

He _was_ very small. Probably twelve years old at the most, and now that she was closer she could tell his clothing didn't exactly _suit_ that age group. (How many twelve year olds wore _collared shirts _if it wasn't a special occasion?) Maybe he was a redhead, or just a very light brown. It was hard to tell. He sat on the nearby wall with his feet not even touching the ground as he looked upwards into the sky, the bag slung under one of his arms seeming no less substantial than the average university students would be.

...Aw.

She had to admit, she was rather... amused by her initial reaction. She figured that when you got to an age where you started thinking of small children as cute, rather than bothersome, you knew the biological clock was ticking.

Still since he looked so at home here, maybe he had some idea where she was.

'Excuse me, dear, but do you live around here?'

It seemed like a sensible enough question, but the boy still seemed to jump clean off the wall, clutching the bag in one hand.

'Oh, sorry, you startled me... Guess I was kind of up in the air. Are you looking for someone?'

'Um,' _not_ the response she had been expecting. 'Well, actually, I think I'm lost. Could you tell me where the Prieston building is?'

'The Prieston?' The boy frowned, and then brightened. 'Oh, you must be looking for the _Forrester_ Building. They changed the name last year, but most people still call it Preiston out of habit. Whoever gave you directions probably got confused.'

'Oh.' Well, setting aside the odd fact that a twelve year old boy seemed to know his way around a university campus (maybe he was the son of an older student?) this _did_ present a predicament. 'Oh boy. I'm in the wrong place, aren't I? Completely?'

''Fraid so,' the boy shrugged sympathetically. 'But it's okay; I'm heading over there now. The campus bus will be here in a few minutes, so you can catch that.'

'Well, thank you, that's... appreciated.' Problem solved, then. Or one problem, at least. She still wasn't sure what to do about the underage kid sitting at a bus stand on his own. 'Um. Look, I'm sorry if this seems rude, but shouldn't you be at school?'

The boy looked around. 'I _am_ at school.'

Oh, great. A wise guy. 'I mean the one down the road. The Elementary?'

'Not unless I failed six years, mam.' The boy said, blankly. And then he must've noticed her confusion because he laughed and shook his head. He had a peculiar laugh, she realised. The kind you didn't expect to come from someone so young. She was even more surprised when he turned to face her and reached out a hand. 'Sorry, I must've sounded impolite there, huh? It's just that I get that a lot. You must be the new staff member in the Tech department.'

She took his hand and shook it, mostly because she couldn't think what else to do. 'Ah... Yes. I'm Alisa. Alisa Armstrong; I was just employed to teach Basic Software. And you are?'

'My names Christopher Thorndyke. I'm in Advanced Programming. You can call me Chris, though.'

Thorndyke. That name rang bells in Alisa's memory, ranging all the way from the men she called to repair her oven, to the people who had funded the citywide rebuilding project after the flood six years ago. Wasn't the guy who ran that company rich, or something?

'And... And you're—'

'Older than I look,' the boy said, seeming torn between blushing or keeping on smiling to cover the embarrassment. 'Most people are used to me by now, though. It's a long story. I'll explain, as soon as I've managed to figure it all out myself. Let's just say that portals and some bad mathematics were involved.'

'I... can imagine,' Alisa muttered. And she really could. Though imagining was about as far as it went.

'Anyway I figure that's the circular now,' the boy tilted his head up the road. 'Hope it's not the driver who calls me pipsqueak. He got used to it faster than everyone else, but I'm kind of fed up of the nicknames.' He looked up at her, smiling as if nothing could be more normal than this situation. 'You catching this one?'

Alisa nodded, still feeling utterly bemused and wondering if all of her students were going to look like they belonged in a pre-teen soccer group.

No wonder they couldn't hire anybody else for this job.

* * *

The next time Knuckles opened his eyes, it was to the noise of a small creature struggling up the steps of the Temple with what sounded like some considerable effort. Typical. Some people just had no concept of "peace and quiet". He sighed again, before looking to find out who it was disturbing his duty this time.

Fortunately, it wasn't Sonic, but someone far smaller and infinitely less irritating, carrying something large beneath one small arm. Well, actually, they weren't so much "carrying it" as "dragging it up the steps with every ounce of willpower they had".

'Cream, what're you doing here?'

'Oh, hi Knuckles...' Cream looked up, tilting into a very hazardous position in order to see him better. 'I-I'm sorry, I thought I was going to surprise you but... this basket is... heavier than I thought it would be— oop!'

_Very_ hazardous indeed. Knuckles came to her rescue before she had a chance to topple backwards from the flight of stairs, picking up both Cream and the basket and placing them safely on the top step as easily as if they were Chaos Emeralds. Funny that the girl could help save the universe, but she couldn't handle climbing a temple with a basket in her hands. 'Well _that_ was a smart move, wasn't it?' Knuckles muttered. 'What surprise?'

Cream shook her head a few time, glancing down the temple steps and no doubt thinking about what a long fall it would've been had she not been caught. Then she smiled, recovering from her near miss the same way she did most things – surprisingly quickly – and patting the wicker basket. 'I brought a picnic!'

Knuckles... blinked. 'Excuse me?'

'A picnic,' Cream repeated, still smiling, her brown eyes wide and expectant. 'You know. With food and things. Aren't you hungry?'

'...Right now? Why?'

'Because the sun will be setting soon,' Cream said. 'And since the Emerald is making a lot of light this evening, I thought it might be fun to still be able to see what we're eating, even after the sun has gone to sleep. _And_ I heard that you've been sitting here all day, just like every day all on your own, Knuckles. You could use the company. It isn't good for people to sit around with no one to talk to all the time.'

She spoke with such certainty that Knuckles didn't have the heart to say that he was, in fact, perfectly happy being here "all on his own". By this point Cream was dragging the basket across the top of the temple platform towards the Master Emerald and giving the stone a friendly pat to say hello. The light glittered against her, but didn't rub off on her fingertips, the way it had on Sonic. 'I... well, thank you, Cream but I, uh...'

'Oh you don't have to say thank you at all,' Cream shook her head, still smiling. 'I _wanted_ to come here. You should visit us more often, everyone would be really happy to see you. Oh, and Cheese is sorry that he couldn't come, but it's past his bedtime. Mother says I'm allowed to stay up later now. It's a present because I helped you save the universe. Isn't that great?'

'...I... Yeah. Great.'

Darn it. Sweet and small Cream may have been, but naive and gullible she was most certainly not. She knew fine well that the expression she was wearing was one that no person alive (except possibly Eggman or a Metarex) could possibly find argument with. Knuckles shut his mouth and tried not to look as embarrassed as he felt. He was the Guardian of the Master Emerald, protector of its unlimited power, unifier of the chaos within. The Master Guardian did not, under any circumstances, lose his cool.

Not even if the circumstances involved picnics with small rabbits at weird hours of the day.

'I know that outer space is incredible, and there were so many beautiful things out there, even if some of them were also pretty scary,' Cream said, taking things out of the basket. 'But I say nothing looks prettier than the Forest during sunset. Then again, I suppose a lot of people think that about the planet they live on, don't you think?'

'I... suppose they do,' Knuckles said. He hadn't really thought about it before. He had spent enough time jumping around to different worlds and planets to last him a lifetime, of course, and still nowhere felt quite as beautiful as the Forest and the Temple.

'Hey Knuckles,' Cream asked. 'Why _is_ the Emerald all bright and shining like that anyway?'

'Good question,' Knuckles muttered. 'Look, Cream, as much as I... appreciate this, it's really not a very good time...'

'Now don't be silly,' Cream interrupted in a tone that reminded him very much of her mother. 'It's always a good time for friends. And Mother says that it's not very sensible for someone to sit somewhere all day without company or food and not do anything except worry.'

Well, who was he to argue with Cream's mother? Knuckles sighed, resigning himself to the inevitable as Cream pushed a plate into his hand, whether he wanted it or not. 'And who, exactly, told you that I needed company?'

'Sonic did,' Cream piped. 'But he said that he thought he was getting on your nerves today, so I decided I'd come instead.'

'Oh. Of course. What else?'

'Well, Tails said that you were spending an awful lot of time alone up here lately, too. He's been worried about a lot of people lately...' Cream frowned. 'He misses Cosmo very much, doesn't he?'

Cute kid. 'We all miss Cosmo.'

'I know. But it's alright, because we can still talk to her,' Cream said, though her smile was perhaps not as truthful as Cream's smiles usually were. 'And I'm sure she's somewhere where she can be happy now. It must have been awful to not have her mother around. I know how much I missed mine while we were on Chris's world. Plate, please.'

'Uh. Sure.' He handed her a plate, mostly on impulse. He didn't, actually, have any idea how the plate had ended up next to him in the first place. When Cream packed a picnic, she certainly went all out.

'Sometimes, when I visit Tails,' Cream went on, pulling out something that looked like a packet of cakes, gazing at it for a moment, discovering it wasn't what she was looking for and putting it back. 'I like to visit the little seed that he has growing in a pot in his workshop. It's getting very big now, with lots of green leaves. I talk to it like I'm talking to Cosmo, and I just know that she can hear me. And Tails will come back in, and we'll talk to her together. He'll even let me water her.'

'You too, eh?' Knuckles couldn't help but feel slightly amused. First Sonic was holding conversations with the Master Emerald and now Cream was talking to vegetation. Whatever next? _Echidnas having picnics at sunset, maybe? Thank god Sonic isn't around to see this. _

'Yes, me too,' Cream said, arranging biscuits on a plate. 'Why? Do you talk to Cosmo as well?'

'Can't... say that I do, no,' Knuckles hadn't imagined it was possible to feel more uncomfortable than he already did, but apparently it was. He also had no idea why realising this actually made him feel a trifle guilty. He wasn't into the habit of holding conversations with the dead. Not unless they asked for him directly, anyway.

Cream nodded as if she understood perfectly even though she probably didn't, and started opening biscuit wrappers. 'Well, momma told me that everyone deals with these kinds of things very differently. No two people are exactly the same, because no two people ever feel exactly the same way. I'm sure Cosmo doesn't mind.' She paused. 'I think I forgot to bring the tea. Oh well. Now, would you like cake, or one of the funny cheese biscuits that _look_ like cakes?'

'Um... there's a difference?'

Cream giggled and held the plate back to him. 'Of course there's a difference. One has cheese and the other one doesn't. I wasn't sure if you liked them or not. Actually, I'm not sure _at all_ what Echidnas like to eat, so I just guessed and brought everything I could think of. This is why you should really come visit us more often, you know. Even after everything we've done together, there are a lot of things we all don't know about each other. It'll be fun to learn. Here.' She held out the plate (with the cheese-cake on it) in his direction and smiled the smile of someone who you simply couldn't say no to without feeling like you'd upset some kind of cosmic law of virtue.

...What the heck. So long as Sonic didn't see. Knuckles reached out to take the plate back from her.

And was pretty damn surprised when the aforementioned piece of china was blown clean out of his hand by a blast of what felt like solidified light, and sent smashing onto the temple steps.

_Fifteen minutes... twenty five seconds... Counting...

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	3. Two: Broken Again

**I'm fairly sure these rapid updates can't possibly be a good thing... oh well.

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**

Two.

_Once upon a time, there was Chaos, and there were the __worlds__ created __by__ it. But raw Chaos is__ untempered and volatile__ and therefore__ control of it is__unattainable__. For any structuring of its power to be possible, one must congeal its energy into __a __solid form. _

_The Chaos Emeralds were created long ago, fused __from__ the power of __Chaos__ itself__, each one embodying a fragment of its strength. Their power __springs from the Master Emerald,__the__ great__est__ repository of __Chaos ever __successfully __contained in one __location__. Once, __t__here were many more of them, but their mere existence soon proved to be far more dangerous than their worth. _

_The Chaos Emeralds themselves may be utilised by those __who__ are willing__ and able to cope with the extraordinary energy that they produce__. But the seven __C__haos __E__meralds are merely the servers. The Guardian acts to unify the __C__haos through the power of their heart. The Guardian__'__s power must not be imitated by those who do not know what they're doing. _

_When it comes to the Master Emerald, most people do not know what they are doing. _

_Times come and go. Worlds change, worlds evolve__ and live and rot and are reborn__, even those that are Mythless. The history of the Emeralds and their origin __has been__ long forgotten. And f__or many centuries, none but the Guardians have been allowed to tamper with the Master Emerald__'__s power. _

_There is a _reason_ for that.

* * *

_

The Master Emerald wasn't well known for explaining it's every action and reaction in clear, concise sentences.

Knuckles had accepted this fact long ago. The Emerald's plan was the Emerald's own. Whatever it wanted or intended at any given time, he didn't usually ask about unless he had to. It wasn't his job to do so. His purpose was that of the Guardian and nothing more.

However, there were times when it acted... strangely, in ways that no one could possibly predict. Times when it's normally calm behaviour turned bizarre and even aggressive. Times when Knuckles seriously questioned exactly how something so damn powerful had even been allowed to come into existence in the first place. Times when cosmic alignments were not as they should be, and things fell quickly out of place.

These were the times when it was best to just get out of the way as fast as you possibly could.

This was what Knuckles was trying to do now, and would have done far quicker, if it hadn't been for the fact that Cream wasn't nearly as fast as he was. As a result, Knuckles was forced to lose a few precious seconds pulling the rabbit into his arms, and ended up _shielding_ her from the explosion rather than _outrunning_ it as the force of it threw them both into the air.

He sensed the aftershock of solid light colliding with his back even as they were thrown to safety. The cracking, crumbling sensation of the active Emerald's power ripping through him as he collided with the stone stairway, and then the shudder of it power growing rapidly behind them as he and Cream rolled the rest of the way down the steps and into the thick grass surrounding the temple. Knuckles lost his grip on Cream at this point, and saw her falling away to one side, before he was slammed onto his back, and left looking upwards into shocking white-green light.

It was not, of course, unheard of for the Chaos Emerald to do things that were outside of its usual behaviour patterns.

Just smashing into a million pieces all on its own accord, however... Now _that_ was something Knuckles could have really done _without_ happening again.

* * *

Doctor Eggman had warned him, of course.

And it felt really, _really_ weird, to be taking _Eggman_ at his word, but for once it was true. He'd _said_ that he couldn't guarantee Chris's age upon returning to his own world, but Chris... hadn't exactly been listening at the time. He'd been too wrapped up in the idea that he _could_ actually go home after all.

Had he been paying more attention, or had more time to think about it, Chris could've probably done some mental calculations and worked out that the odds of the transporter being one-hundred-percent successful had been slim-to-none. In fact, he had been pretty lucky to get through the portal in one piece, never mind with six years of his life intact.

The thing about being twelve years old, Chris figured, was that it was a time in life that pretty much everyone would want to have back if it were offered to them. However people also tended to forget that it was also a time which came with some very irritating... restrictions. Like not being able to reach certain computer panels without standing on chairs, for example. And not being legally able to drive on public highways (not that he could reach the pedals anymore).

...And not being mistaken for an elementary school kid by your new Lecturer.

Oh well. She'd get used to it. She'd already managed to sit next to him for an entire ten minute bus journey and _not_ cast half a dozen confused looks in his direction. That was a good start, right? Right.

Whether Chris himself was going to get used to it... now _that_ was a different matter entirely. Not that he had any say in it. What was it that Grandpa had said? _Things would happen the way they happened._ For all they knew the two worlds' connection would be re-established tomorrow and Chris would be eighteen years old again before he knew it. The portal itself remained untouched in the company laboratory, and experiments there went pretty much the same as they always had, with the exception that Chris couldn't necessarily reach the safety switches in a hurry.

He always just crossed his fingers and hoped to the Master Emerald that nothing exploded.

He'd been doing that a lot lately, actually. Hoping to the Master Emerald, that was. Well, whatever that stuff Knuckles said when he was communicating with the Emerald actually meant, it certainly felt... reassuring to Chris, even if it did sound weird. Like muttering a mantra, or something. It helped him focus during the half-semester exams, and while performing volatile energy experiments with expensive university equipment. So long as he didn't say it loud enough for any of his classmates to hear and start giving him funny looks (well, funnier than they already did, him looking like a twelve year old and all).

Sonic would probably have found it funny. Then again, at least nothing _had_ actually exploded yet, so maybe the strategy was working...

* * *

Knuckles was sure it hadn't been raining a few moments ago, but it certainly seemed to be now. Except that the last time he checked, raindrops didn't fall on cloudless nights, and didn't usually glow bright green as they fell either.

He blinked, coughing on the dust and trying to figure out first which way was up, and then which way _from_upCream had been sent flying when they both landed. The aftershock of the explosion had seemed to last forever and Knuckles wasn't certain if it was the ground, or his body that was still shaking.

He saw Cream scrambling to her knees nearby. She was staring up at the temple with her brown eyes wide in alarm, and Knuckles noticed suddenly, that the glowing light which had accompanied the Master Emerald all day now seemed to be scattered all around them, glistening in the rain-but-not-rain, sending shimmers across the grass.

It would probably have been beautiful if it wasn't so heart wrenchingly disturbing. Knuckles didn't have to look up at the temple to know what he was going to see.

There was a faint whimper, and Knuckles winced, forcing himself to look away from the broken-stone emptiness that remained of the Master Emerald and focus his attention on the rather frightened looking girl sitting a few feet away from him. '...Cream, you alright? Are you hurt?'

Cream shook her head rapidly, seeming beyond speech. She still had a broken plate clutched too tightly in one hand and Knuckles managed to turn away from the temple for long enough to pry the sharp edged piece of china out of her fingers. They'd probably be finding her mother's tableware scattered all over the forest for months.

'K-Knuckles...' Cream whispered, anxiously. 'The Master Emerald...'

'I know,' Knuckles said, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone of voice. He _knew_surebut he couldn't quite bring himself to _look_. His brain felt as if it were still catching up with the rest of the world, and was being held back by chains as heavy as his fists.

Of course, some people had no such problems keeping up with the situation. A few seconds later, a blur of speed swept through the forest, scattering fragments of emerald as it came to a halt in the glade. No prizes for guessing who that was.

'Man, Knuckles,' Sonic whistled. 'When you said you'd lemme know if anything blew up, I thought you were just being a smart mouth.'

Knuckles opened his mouth to snap out a response, but no sound came out. The next thing he knew Sonic's hand was on his arm as Sonic helped both Knuckles and Cream back to their feet. 'Remind me to take you more seriously in the future. The whole _world_ is feeling this one.'

'What...' Knuckles tried to pull himself together. 'What're you saying?'

He looked up. Sonic was stood beside him with his arms folded and a confused expression on his face. 'I'm saying that a hole the size of a baseball field just appeared in the middle of the forest,' he said, jabbing his thumb in the direction he had come from. 'And things aren't looking too neat over in the village, either. Whatever that quake was, it came and went almost as fast as me!'

'Yeah, I can believe that.' Knuckles muttered, still staring anguished at the place where the Master Emerald had been. 'We felt it. The thing damn nearly got both of us hurt.'

'And ruined the food,' Cream whispered, seemingly as an afterthought.

Sonic blinked, the look in his eyes a strange mix of his usual nonchalance and a more genuine interest. 'Wait, you're telling me the Master Emerald was caught up in that earthquake?'

'I'm saying that the Master Emerald was the _cause_ of that earthquake.' Knuckles grit his teeth. 'Now look at it...'

'Yeah, I'm looking,' Sonic groaned. 'This is gonna involve some massive search for little pieces of rock that goes on for months all around the planet and probably attracts Eggman, isn't it?'

Knuckles didn't answer. There was nothing he could think of to say. Instead, he began to approach the temple steps and ascend them, not really caring whether or not another aftershock might be on the way. The Emerald had broken before, but never like this. Never into so many sand-grain pieces. The largest pieces remaining couldn't possibly be larger than an outstretched paw, and most of them were so tiny that Knuckles couldn't even catch them in his hand as they drifted past.

Only now did he notice something stranger still. The rain of emerald-fragments was no longer falling, but rising upwards, as if being drawn to the sky. Knuckles cursed inwardly. '...Sonic?'

'I see it,' Sonic muttered, and for once his voice bore no signs that he was fooling around.

'Is... Is that supposed to happen, Knuckles?' Cream called out a question she probably already knew the answer to. Because no, Knuckles though, this definitely was _not_ supposed to happen. Something was very wrong here. _More_ wrong than what was immediately obvious. _He_ felt it, _Sonic_ felt it, heck, the sensation was so powerful that maybe even Cream felt it.

As for what was causing it... Knuckles had no idea whatsoever. No possible clue came to mind, except for the one, brief vision he had seen earlier that evening: the mental image of bright green eyes, a broken moon and a glimpse of a planet the same colour as Sonic...

And then Knuckles remembered what he probably should've realised hours ago. A blue planet... Chris's world?

No. The worlds couldn't possibly be aligning, could they? Not _now_. And surely not like _this_. Chaos be damned, the kid had never said anything about there being_ explosions_.

The fragments of the once whole and beautiful Master Emerald continued to rise, like strange ash from an equally strange volcano, and in response to this disaster, Sonic's eyebrow tweaked upwards. 'Yeeeah is anyone else here thinkin' that we had better scat with a capital "s"?'

Knuckles _was_ thinking that (if not in those exact words) but somehow his body just didn't seem to want to let him leave. The same powerful sense of duty that had kept him bound to the Master Emerald all his life was tugging at him the same way that it always had, except that now the sensation seemed to be spread out across millions upon millions of tiny fragments, binding him to a million shards of stone.

'Then wherever it goes, I go,' he muttered to no one but himself. He reached out a hand to tough the fractured shards of Emerald still lying in the middle of the Dias, and shuddered as they crumbled under his together.

And then there it was again. The same glimpse of green eyes and blue oceans.

Knuckles blinked hard, twisting round quickly to look at Sonic, expression demanding to know whether or not he had seen it too. The expression on Sonic's face confirmed it. _'Freaky, huh?'_

_'No kidding...'_

And then the light increased. The shards of Emerald seemed to begin beaming brighter than ever, practically blinding him with their intensity. _Two minutes... twenty seconds... Counting,_ Knuckles thought, though he still had no idea what this countdown could possibly be approaching.

'Knuckles?' Cream yelped, anxiously. 'I... I don't think you should be up there right now!'

'The Master Emerald is in pieces, Cream,' Knuckles yelled (knowing that he would regret it later but at the moment not honestly caring). 'All heck is about to break loose here somehow and I know it. The Emerald is here, so this is _exactly_ where I should be.'

'Hey, kid's got a point you know,' Sonic's voice said from beside him. Knuckles hadn't even seen him approach. 'This probably isn't safe, Knuckles.'

Knuckles grunted. 'Like anything _you've_ ever done has been safe.'

'Meh. Good point.'

Sonic took another step forwards and reached out to touch a rising fragment of Emerald. The fragment clung to his fingers the same way the light of the whole Emerald had hours earlier. Something was happening, and both of them knew it, though neither was entirely certain what it was.

'You thinking what I'm thinking?' Sonic asked, and when Knuckles glanced at him, he saw a grin splitting over Sonic's face.

'Sonic, I never have any damn idea what you're thinking.'

'Heh. Most of the time, me neither. But we've gotta do something, right?'

The ground shuddered again before Knuckles could come up with an answer. This time, however, the tremor seemed to come from a thousand smaller vibrations from a thousand shards of broken emerald. The vibrations spread quickly, like ripples in a pool of water. A mile away in a small workshop, a young fox who had barely just recovered from the shock of the first tremor jumped to grab a falling pot plant before it could hit the floor and shatter. Five miles away, an old house rattled on long-abused joints and a crocodile detective complained about having to go fix the boiler again. Twelve miles away, a family of Flickeys felt a shiver in the branches of their treetop home, barely even disturbing the leaves, but present nonetheless.

Yet pretty much everyone for as far as the eye could see knew that something was happening over at the Temple. Everyone noticed the strong, distant light turning the evening sky from orange-gold to green, and a glare like lightning going up instead of down.

And further away still, in a parallel dimension containing a planet as blue as Sonic, an eighteen year old boy's heart stopped beating.

* * *


	4. Three: One Minute and Thirty Seconds

**Now **_**that's**_** a more reasonable time lag between chapters. **

**Standard disclaimers apply. **

Three.

_Once upon a time, there was a boy who died without realising it, and continued to walk the world of the living unaware of his predicament for months afterwards. _

_You understand how this tale is going by now, of course. His survival had everything to do with Chaos. But then again, so did his death. _

_This is where the story really begins. _

The problem with young geniuses, Amy Rose decided as she hauled the watering can back from the well in Tails' garden, was that they were always so absent minded that they forgot to do the important things. Like taking out the trash, for example. Or watering their gardens on warm evenings. (Or even eating, sleeping and drinking... obviously Tails had been neglecting a few of _those_ things again, too.)

'Well, that's all that sorted out for another evening. By _me_, I might add, Tails.'

Tails peered out from underneath the engine he was working on. Sometimes Amy thought that he must have about a dozen different X-Tornados hidden away somewhere and was working on a new one every time she called. He never seemed to be tinkering with the same plane two days in a row. 'Oh, Amy, hi. When did you get here?'

'Hmph,' Amy lifted the still partly-full watering can up onto the tabletop and wiped her brow. 'Oh, not too long ago. I've only been out there for, say, half an hour, watering _your_ garden for you. And you never even saw me come in, did you? You said "hi there" and "uh-huh" but I'm pretty sure that none of the parts in that complex brain of yours were focussed upon me.'

'Oh...' Tails frowned slightly, glancing upwards at a strange clock with too many buttons (no doubt designed by Tails himself) on the wall. 'But didn't you already do that last night?'

Amy rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, and the night _before_ that, too. Honestly, Tails, I'm not your gardener, but somebody's got to look after those plants.'

Though truth be told, Amy _did_ quite enjoy having the opportunity to dabble in someone's garden but her own. Heck, they didn't call her "Amy Rose" for nothing, and Tails' plants would be so _pretty_ if he just paid more attention to them.

'Sorry, Amy.. You really don't _have_ to do that, you know. It's my garden; I should be the one doing the work.'

'If I left it up to you those poor roses would've died months ago,' Amy said, dryly. 'What's so important about all these machines that you would neglect your poor flower garden for _them_, anyway, Tails? It's not like we _need_ them to save the world at the moment.'

'Well I don't... really neglect them,' Tails muttered uneasily from his usual place underneath the Tornado. 'I always water Gerta.'

'Gerta? Oh, right... Gerta.' Amy glanced at the pot plant sitting on the nearby table. Of course, Tails _doted_ upon "Gerta", as he called it (one of these days Amy was going to work out a polite way to ask where the heck that name had come from anyway), but that was different.

Amy folded her arms and gave Tails the sternest look she could manage (not that he could see her glaring at him while he was underneath the X-Tornado, but she would give it a damn good try anyway). 'Well, of _course_ you always water Gerta, but you have _other_ flowers too, you know. You should take better care of them.'

'Well the X-Tornado needs a lot of work and—'

'Your Tornado won't up and die if you leave it alone for a few days!'

'Well... yeah,' Tails sounded sheepish. 'I guess you're right. It's not that I mean to, it's just that I just get so involved in what I'm doing that I forget about everything else. Anyway, isn't it kind of late for gardening? The sun's almost down.'

There he went again, Amy thought. You just couldn't stay mad at Tails when he looked at you that way...

'Yeah, and you still don't get it,' she tutted, 'Don't you know? It's always best to water them at sunset during the summer months. That way the petals won't burn in the hot sun. You're getting to be as forgetful as Sonic, you know, and his absent-mindedness is _not_ one of his better qualities. So, may I water her?'

'Um. Sorry?'

Amy sighed. 'You should pay a lady some attention when she visits. I meant can I water Gerta for you?'

Tails peered out from under the engine again and glanced at the potted plant. 'Oh, sure you can. But not too much. I only gave her some yesterday and I don't want to soak her out. She's still only small.'

Amy couldn't argue with that. The plant was growing quickly now, after a good few months of total inactivity, but it still didn't look especially impressive. It seemed so frail and delicate, sitting in there amongst all that earth...

...The seed Cosmo had left behind. Yeah. Gerta was something special alright. Amy examined the leaves very carefully, the way she checked her roses for Flickeybugs. 'You know, I think there might be a bud coming in here.'

'You do?' There was a noise that was probably Tails whacking his head off the underside of the plane in his rush to get out from beneath it. He scrambled over surprisingly quickly. 'Ow... Where?'

'There,' Amy smiled and pointed carefully at the plant. 'And another one right there, see? It's growing much better now. You know, if you treated _all_ the flowers in your garden the way you treat this one...'

'Well, there aren't any other flowers like this one,' Tails smiled, seeming very pleased with Gerta for growing so well (Amy could tell, because he was gazing at the little plant the same way he always looked at the X Tornado after completing a redesign. Well, Amy couldn't exactly argue with the fact.

'It's going to be a beautiful flower someday.' She looked at Tails, smiling slightly. 'Assuming it _is_ a flower, of course.And you think it might be more than just a normal plant, don't you?'

Tails said nothing in response to that, and it took Amy a moment or two to realise justhow dumb she had sounded. 'Oh. I'm sorry, Tails, I didn't mean...'

'It's okay,' Tails smiled, though she could tell he didn't really mean it. _She_ rarely meant it when she smiled about Cosmo these days either. 'You're right, though. It'll probably just be a normal plant, but...'

'But it's _her_ plant,' Amy finished, ruffling his fur reassuringly. 'That's the most important thing.'

'Yeah. It is.'

They stood there for a few moments watching the potted plant in silence. Not exactly a _comfortable_ silence, but not uncomfortable either. Someone had told Amy once, that when you were in good company, you didn't _need_ to make small talk. And this was just one of those moments, right? When neither of them had to say anything at all, because just being in each other's company spoke volumes, or something.

Still.

'You know, that's a really good look on you, Tails.'

'Huh?' Tails glanced down at himself, trying to work out what Amy was talking about. 'Um... a good look?'

'Yeah. You can call it your "Not-stuck-under-a-jet-plane's-engine-for-every-minute-of-the-day-look.' Amy said. 'I was starting to forget _what_ you looked like in the first place. Every time I come in here, you're lying under some machine or another. Cream actually told me that she _missed_ you yesterday, and she only lives down the street.'

Tails shuffled on the spot. Amy could tell she had gotten to him by the way his tails frizzled out. 'I guess I have been really busy lately. Like I said, the X Tornado needs—'

'A lot of work,' Amy finished, knowingly. 'Yeah. You did say that, Tails. Just pay more attention to the rest of your garden, okay?' She sighed. 'And come out from underneath that thing more often. And visit Cream. You _really_ need to visit Cream. She likes hanging around with everyone else, but she says you're the only one of us who can make a really good paper plane. Except for Sonic, that is. Which reminds me...' Amy stepped back and reached for the watering can again. 'He's _another_ person you've got to talk to.'

Tails blinked. 'But I've spoken to Sonic a lot over the last few days.'

'Yeah, you've talked to him, but you haven't... you know. _Talked_ to him.' Amy brushed a few specks of dirt away from Gerta's leaves. 'I think he needs that.'

Tails looked kind of like he wanted to crawl back under the X-Tornado. 'But... he never said anything to me.'

'Well, no, I guess he wouldn't have,' Amy shrugged. 'Boys can be so silly about things like this. But I have a sixth sense for the workings of his heart, you know. He might act like his usual self, but I think he still feels really bad about what happened in space.'

'But...' Tails looked genuinely confused. 'He didn't do anything _wrong_. And all of that was months ago now.'

'And you still miss Cosmo just as much as you did then, right?' Amy said.

Tails shuffled again. His tails were frizzling out more than ever, and Amy knew she was right. 'That's just it, Tails. Sonic doesn't deal with things the same way you do. He misses Cosmo too, just like we all do. I'm sure he's okay, really. I mean, he's _Sonic_,' Amy smiled. That simple phrase really did explain it all. 'You know how he bounces back from stuff. But still, I'm sure he'd like to talk to you about it. I think he misses Chris, too. You're his best friend; you should talk to him about these kinds of things.'

Tails stayed silent for a moment, seeming to ponder her words while stroking one of Gerta's leaves. 'Amy, you had an ulterior motive for coming round tonight, didn't you?' He said. 'It didn't have anything to do with watering my garden.'

'No! Well... yeah, maybe a little, but your plants really _did_ need watering,' Amy smiled at him firmly until he offered her a small smile in return.

And then the plant pot _rattled_.

At first Amy thought it was Tails, nudging something underneath the table, but she started to think twice about that when the watering can gave a _huge_ jolt and was thrown clean off the desk. The next thing Amy knew, _she_ was being thrown off her feet as well and landing with a bump on the wooden floor. The whole building seemed to creak and groan on it's supports and the X-Tornado wobbled precariously.

Earthquake. Wonderful. Now _that_ was what Amy called timing. And it was what she called _disturbing_ too, because she didn't think she was ever going to be able to experience an earthquake ever again (not that she would want to) without thinking of the Metarex, ripping their Planet Egg out of the ground in a beam of light.

Amy staggered to her feet again practically the instant the tremor subsided, leaving tools and machinery still rattling in their places. Tails, however, didn't move from where he was crouched on the floor.

'Wow. Tails, what in the-'

Amy!' Tails snapped, still clutching the floorboards. 'Get down!'

'What? But it's over.'

'I _know_, but there's also probably gonna be a—'

_**Boom. **_

The tremor this time wasn't nearly as strong as the first, but it still had enough force behind it to knock Amy off her feet a second time. She caught a glimpse of Gerta, teetering on the edge of the desk, but had no time to reach out and grab it. She covered her head with her arms instinctively as she hit the ground, and after a few seconds, the tremor died away to a slight shudder, and then faded awayto nothing at all.

Amy opened her eyes slowly to see Tails lying on his back with his hands stretched over his head and the potted plant clutched in both of them. He must have lunged half way across the room to catch it in mid-fall. '—An aftershock,' he finished, smiling weakly in relief. 'Um... I think you can stand up now.'

Amy jumped immediately to her feet. She debated reaching for her hammer but then decided there wouldn't be any point, anyway. You couldn't fight an earthquake.The tools in Tail's workshop still trembled, and the X-Tornado creaked strangely, but otherwise, everything looked mostly normal. Almost as if the quake had never been...

And yet just a few seconds ago, Amy had felt as if her stomach was turning itself inside out. She shuddered.

'Um...' Amy started to speak, realised that her voice was squeaking, paused, cleared her throat and tried again. 'Okay Tails, I've got two questions for you. One: what in the world was _that_ and Two: _Why_ do I have the feeling that Sonic had something to do with it?'

* * *

'Okay, that does it, I'm gonna go find Tails and the others and get them over here bef—' 

'Hold onto your running shoes, Sonic.' Knuckles reached out a hand before Sonic could go anywhere. He continued to stare into the eye of the greenish glow in the sky above them. In truth, he hadn't taken his eyes off it except to blink. 'Not yet. Let's wait and see what happens first.'

'Oh, _c'mon_, we've been standing around here for forever waiting for something to happen,' Sonic shrugged, shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. 'And guess what? _Nothing's_ happening. Unless you count the pieces of Master Emerald getting further and further away from us, that is...'

Knuckles didn't answer. The sensation of the Emerald drifting away from him was almost a tangible ache in his chest, and he didn't need Sonic to remind him of it. He wanted to follow, but knew he couldn't, so he was forced to stay right where he was, looking up into the sky and waiting for whatever might come next. Just continuing to do the Emerald's bidding, no matter how strange that bidding might seem.'Just... wait a few minutes longer, alright?' _Nearly time_, Knuckles thought. Though time for _what_, he had no idea.

'I dunno,' Sonic looked unsure. 'Seriously, Knuckles, you're making _me_ be the one who worries about the Master Emerald here. It's not a good look on me.'

'_Must_ you always be such a joker?'

'Heh. Sorry, guess I'm kinda tense.'

'_You're_ kind of tense?' Knuckles snapped? 'It's _my_ duty, pride and heritage drifting into the sky in a thousand pieces here, you know!'

'Well we've been here for hours and nothing else has happened. I feel dumb, just standing here in the middle of an ex-explosion waiting for something when I don't even know what that _something_ is supposed to be.'

'We've been here for _ten minutes_, Sonic. And personally, I consider "nothing" a good thing.' Knuckles snapped. 'Besides, Cream and I are the ones who have been standing here. _You've_ been gallivanting around the forest for the last ten minutes. The idea of staying still is a concept that's obviously completely beyond you.'

'What? I was lookin' for Cream's china,' Sonic muttered, holding up what looked like half a teacup with a cake in it. 'And us just standing around here isn't gonna save the universe.'

Knuckles sighed impatiently but said nothing, and Sonic continued to shift back and forth from one foot to the other, unable to remain still. Cream, for her part, said and did absolutely nothing. Like Knuckles, she had been watching the Emerald pieces drifting through the sky ever since the last explosion, but now her expression was less fearful and more amazed and confused.

'It's so beautiful, isn't it?' she whispered. 'It looks like the stars are going on a journey.'

'Yeah. Maybe they are,' Sonic seemed amused by that thought. Knuckles couldn't for the life of him work out how Sonic could be so calm right now. 'Maybe _we_ should be goin' on one, too...'

'Do you really think so?' Cream asked, seeming unsure whether to be afraid, or excited by that thought.

'Hey, you heard Fists here,' Sonic smiled. 'Wherever the Master Emerald goes, we go.'

'But where _is_ the Emerald going?' Cream asked, looking very confused. 'And how would we follow it?'

'Meh. I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know when I work it out. Figure Chaos Control will get me up there, or something.'

'Oh.' Cream said, sitting herself down on the temple, still looking up. If Sonic said he'd work something out, then that was good enough for her. 'Okay.'

'I'd find in a lot _more_ beautiful if it was still in one piece,' Knuckles growled, but in a way he could see Cream's point. The pieces of Emerald drifted upwards so slowly and gently that they seemed like crystal-green stars in the steadily darkening sky. Wherever the Master Emerald was going, it wasn't in any real hurry to get there.

Once again, the countdown in Knuckles head flickered. 'Two minutes, fifteen seconds... counting...'

'Sorry, Knuckles, what was that?' Sonic blinked at him. Knuckles closed his eyes for a second, trying very hard to remain focussed upon the Master Emerald. However focussing was becoming more and more difficult the further away the pieces drifted, and the more they separated. They seemed so far away...

'It's been in my head all evening, Sonic,' he said evenly. 'A countdown. Something is coming.'

'What's coming?' Cream squeaked, anxiously. 'Another big explosion?'

'I don't know...' Knuckles admitted. 'Maybe... maybe a door.'

'A door?' Sonic looked sceptical.

'Yes, you know, a _door_? A gateway, a gap, a rip in the fabric of time and space... whatever!' Knuckles folded his arms and tried not to shudder. 'And it's coming right here, right now. Doesn't feel like any kind of portal I've ever experienced before, either. The Master Emerald will show the way when the time is right. All we have to do is follow it.'

Knuckles had no idea whatsoever _how_ he knew this, and clearly Sonic wasn't too sure about it himself. He sighed, shrugged and shifted irritably. 'Okay, fine, so there's a countdown. How much longer do we have?'

'About a minute and thirty seconds.' Knuckles said.

Sonic shuddered. 'Wha—? You're kidding, right?'

'I thought you said you'd know about these things before they even happened, Sonic.' Knuckles said, unable to resist a sly jab at his friend's pride. 'Isn't that enough _time_ for you?'

'Well, sure that's a long enough time for _me_, but...'

'Then it's enough,' Knuckles interrupted. 'Now are you coming or not?'

'But... the others.'

'What do you think this is, a travelling picnic?' Knuckles snapped, before pausing and glancing at Cream. 'Ah, no offence, Cream.'

'That's okay Knuckles, I can always make us another one some other day. But do you really think we should be going alone?' Cream said. Sonic raised an eyebrow and Knuckles tactfully averted his expression from the two of them and coughed.

'Um. Yes. It's not a good idea to put any more people at risk here than needs be. You should leave too, Cream.'

Cream glared as firmly as she could manage. 'No, Knuckles. I was here at the start. I'm going with you!'

'Hey, Knuckles, we were just in the middle of an explosion, and none of _us_ are hurt. I think we're pretty much safe here.'

'The Master Emerald is shattered, Sonic,' Knuckles said dryly, infuriated by Sonic's nonchalance. 'It broke into pieces and is drifting away from us even as we speak. And the fragments are... slicing through time and space and preparing to open a _doorway_ to god only knows where. What in the worlds makes you think that _any_ of this could possibly be safe?'

'The fact that _we_ didn't get blown up when we should've?' Sonic suggested, shrugging.

'Oh for... Just... _trust_ me on this, will you?! Something's happening and I want to know what it is. For once in your life think about the consequences before you do something!' Knuckles snapped. 'Now are you coming through the gate when it opens or not?' Something tickled the back of Knuckles' mind. He could only describe it as a tug, dragging him in the direction of the Emerald. He winced. 'Forty five seconds, Sonic.'

'Whoa, okay, okay! Just don't go anywhere without me.' Sonic said quickly. Knuckles blinked, and when he looked again Sonic had disappeared, leaving behind only a faint gust of wind to let them know he had ever been there.

Cream however, hadn't gone anywhere. She remained firmly by his side.

'Cream,' Knuckles said, evenly. 'Go _home_.'

Cream merely shook her head and reached out to grab onto Knuckles' arm, holding on tight. 'Wherever you go,' She, said, deliberately. '_We_ go, Knuckles.' And then she smiled. He didn't have the heart to push her away.

'Oh... _fine_, whatever.'

_Twenty five seconds... Counting... _


	5. Four: Short Circuiting Chaos

**I really didn't want to separate this into another chapter... but the length of this part and the last part combined was ridiculous. So I have to compromise and go for too many chapters, as opposed to too many words in _one_ chapter. Sorry about that. **

**PS: This chapter is a repost, after ate the last one. Darn... **

**Standard disclaimers apply. **

* * *

Four. 

Chris placed the stack of boxes he had been carrying on a nearby desktop as he entered the lab, before walking over to the bundle-in-a-white-coat, lying half slumped across a computer panel. 

'S'cuse me, that's important stuff you're lying on there.'

The bundle shuffled but made no attempt to shift itself. 'Murphle.'

'Um... hello?' Chris gave it a prod. 'Francis? Are you okay? You forgot to unlock the door this morning.' 

'Nggh. G'way.' 

Dicing with danger, Chris gave the bundle-which-answered-to-the-name-"Francis" another gentle poke in the lab coat. 'Sorry Francis, but I don't think it's a good idea to fall asleep on that computer panel. Mr Willis will go crazy if I smash _another _one. Rough night?' 

The hunched figure groaned quietly and raised her head just enough for Chris to see her eyes. '...Can't talk, vending machine s'empty.' 

Chris smiled. 'No coffee again, huh? You know the more of that stuff you drink the less effective it's gonna be. And it doesn't usually work, if you make yourself stay up three nights in row anyway.' 

The girl lifted her head slightly higher, the expression on her face somewhere between dog-tired and exasperated. 'Yeah, well, it you ever discover a better way to pass an intensive three-module course on limited sleep then let me know.' Francis muttered, stretching her arms over her head. Her reddish brown hair was furiously ruffled, and she had obviously been in the lab all night. 'How can you be so darn chirpy, Chris? Must be that twelve-year-old metabolism. Just as well, really,' she shifted her head again to rest on both her hands. 'Given that your body probably couldn't even handle the amount of caffeine necessary to keep a student conscious, these days.' 

Chris bit down on his bottom lip, the same way he had back on the bus when the driver called him "pipsqueak". 'Hey, no fair, we've already talked about that.' 

'Yeah, Francis,' a voice called from a nearby storage closet which Chris had believed was empty until that moment. 'You know the rules. You're not allowed to make height and age related cracks About Chris until his voice starts breaking. Again.'

'That counts as a joke!' Chris called. 

'What? That? Nah, you're just too sensitive. I promise; when you start sounding like a canary (or possibly your grandpa) I won't as much as snigger. I got all my laughing done the first time around.' Danny peered out from the doorway, smiling.

...Yeah. You could always count on your friends to make you feel better about your personal problems. 

Danny emerged from the cupboard for a moment, dumped a large box of microchips on the desk and disappeared again. 'They've got a new Tutor teaching Basic Tech here today and Mr Willis said he wants this place looking a little less like it's being used by a bunch of students by the time she gets here... Even though it kind of _is_ being used daily by a bunch of students.' 

Chris looked up. 'Hey, I think I saw her. The new tutor, I mean.' 

'You have?' Francis looked up. 'What's she like? Is she another evil demonic ex-preschool teacher, like the one you had last year? Will she demand you do extra credit every month? Does she grade on the curve?' 

'Uh, I'm not sure; I didn't get to talk to her much. She seemed really nice, though,' he scratched his head. 'Forgetful, but nice.' 

'Oh.' Francis slumped back onto the desk. 'Well, they all_ seem_ nice, until they start handing out your semester schedules.Still, she's got to have better grading techniques than Mr. Carver anyway.'

'You know I still don't get how an English Literature tutor can be a tougher grader than one in Mathematical mechanics,' Chris checked another computer system – it's readings, like all the others, were nominal. 'I mean, they're grading you on opinions and interpretations rather than facts after all, right? There isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer.' 

'Ha. Spoken like a boy whose brain operation is almost entirely on the _right_ side,' Francis muttered. 'Trust me, I know these things. Mr Carver is _evil _personified. Speaking of him, you know I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm due in the Literature Studies Department as of ten minutes ago.' 

'And we all appreciate your ability to multitask,' Danny called. 'Especially Chris here, who couldn't control the machine without you. All this science is tricky stuff.' 

'Says you, you're in the physical sciences department.' 

'Yeah but that's only three floors down from here. _You're_ supposed to be in another campus.' 

Francis smiled at him lopsidedly. 'Please remind me why I decided going to the same University as you two would be a good idea?' 

'Because you thought it would be great to be able to hang around with your childhood friends for another three years?' Danny suggested. 'Hey, Chris, what age group did the new tutor mistake you for?'

Chris groaned. 'Elementary. And it took five minutes and several quantum calculations to convince her otherwise.' 

Danny looked genuinely surprised. 'Wow. That's a list of fifteen so far this year. You know, maybe we should start sneaking some of that growth-spurt stuff into your coffee.'

'Danny, that's not funny!'

'Sorry, sorry.' Danny sniggered. 'Seriously, she'll get used to you. We all did, after a while. Anyone who can stay awake for twenty four hours doing quantum calculations can't be all _that_ young.'

_Unless their name is Tails_, Chris thought privately. 

'On that subject,' Francis said, bluntly. 'It's totally your turn to take the overnight slot here, Chris. I've been doing this for two nights in a _row_ now and it's not exactly what I'd call an entertaining job.' She winced, cracking her knuckles one by one. 'I think even my cramps have cramp.' 

'Sorry, Francis' Chris apologised. 'I would've been here, but when grandpa blows up something from the workshop, then grandpa blows up something from the workshop. If it makes you feel any better, I spent most of last night trying to salvage pieces of a wrecked jet plane. We still have no idea why the engine conked out in mid-flight.'

Francis winced. 'Ooh. Ouch.' 

'Yeah. There are times when I really miss Tails and this is one of them. Seriously, I'm really grateful that you could do this again.' 

'Well it _is_ getting me extra credit, after all,' Francis smiled. There was a vaguely comfortable silence between them while Chris checked the readings of another panel, searching for any discrepancies in the software. Nothing much to speak of. Everything seemed to be working as normally now as it had been for the last four months. 

'You know Helen asked about you this morning.' 

Chris jolted to an abrupt halt halfway between two different computers. 

Yeah. The name "Helen" tended to have that effect on him. So much so that Danny had developed a habit of occasionally inserting her name into random sentences for no reason, just to see Chris's reaction. And it was always the same reaction, too. Or at least, Danny _used_ to do that in the days before...

Well. The days before. '...What did she say?'

'Well, she told me to send her love,' Francis said, seeming to choose her words very carefully. 'And that you should drop by and see her in the other department some time... And that she'll be in the library. Today. In a few hours time. And that she'll kind of... wait and see if you show up. She really wants to talk to you.' 

Oh... 

Oh boy. 

'...Right.' 

'Well that's better than her _last_ response, isn't it?' Danny said, brightly. 

'I guess.' Chris tried to sound sure of himself there, but failed miserably. And examining all the quantum fluctuations on the next computer panel wasn't helping to distract him. 

His somewhat lacklustre response gained him a thwap on the shoulder from Danny. 

'Hey, she wants to see you, right? That's a _good_ thing. Don't look as if she's planning to do you some serious damage; we're talking about _Helen_ here.' 

'Yeah. Helen. Right. It's not like she's going to bite my head off for...' _De-aging by six years_. '...Anything.' 

Chris was fairly sure that Francis and Danny were exchanging uneasy glances but refused to look at them and find out for sure. 

'Danny's right, Chris,' Francis nodded. 'You don't have to avoid her so much.' 

Chris sighed. 'Yeah, I know. I don't _have_ to.' 

'And you shouldn't stop being friends just because of this. You know. Height thing.' 

'It's not exactly a height thing, though, is it?' Chris muttered, trying to focus his attention on the readings of a computer panel instead of on the mental image of a pretty blonde girl with bright blue eyes and a smile that could melt Chaos Emeralds and...

Oh, _damn it_. 

'Well. No.' 

There was silence for a very long moment, excepting for the occasional bleep from a nearby machine, before Chris felt a pair of arms throwing themselves around his neck from behind. 

'Hey! Francis!' 

Francis laughed. 'Sorry. I can't help it; you're so cute when you're depressed.'

'So, is this a girl thing,' Danny was looking at them both with an amused expression. 'Or just a Francis thing? And if it's the latter than when the heck did she develop it?' 

Chris squirmed, trying to loosen her hold on his neck. It wasn't working especially well. 'Danny, get her off already!' 

Danny grinned. 'Hey, don't look at me; you're on your own here. I'm not gonna mess with a coffee-deprived, matchmaker-playing Francis.' 

Chris sighed. Sometimes, he longed for the days when Francis called all boys "icky", believed in cooties and ran around in dungarees. 'F-Francis, I can't... breathe!' 

'Oh, don't try that on me, Thorndyke, you've got your mother's genes, you could fake-suffocate your way out of anything! Except maybe one of Mr Willis's mock papers. Besides, you need it, whether you want to admit it or not.' 

...Yeah. Maybe you really _could_ count on your friends to make you feel better about these things. 

'Hey Chris?' 

'Urgh, seriously, Francis, you can let _go_. What is it, Danny?' 

'Nothing,' Danny said, but he was biting his lip in a way that suggested it definitely _wasn't_ nothing, and still staring at a nearby monitor. 'Just wondering... Should that panel be flashing like that?' 

'What? Which panel?'

'This one right here. the words "Chaos Limit Sustainment" written on the screen.' 

Uh-oh. 

Chris glanced upwards and Francis let go of him rather quickly as he pulled away. Danny was right –the screen of the farthest left computer was flashing from a small, red light at the bottom of the monitor. It only seemed to brighten when Chris's hand touched the keyboard, and was accompanied by a steady whirring sound, like a panicked wasp. 

Chris moved a hand up slowly to turn off the monitor, waited a few seconds, and then turned it back on. Nothing changed. The red signal continued to flash, but gave him no information about exactly what it was flashing _for_. So, not a malfunction, then... 'This computer is supposed to alert us to problems in the software,' he muttered quietly, mostly to himself. 'But...'

'What?' Danny asked. 'C'mon, man, what's happening?' 

Chris didn't answer that question. He couldn't. The portal itself –a silver coil of metal roughly the height of a grown man– remained still and silent at the back of the room. It wasn't reacting in the slightest. 

Something tickled his fingers and it took Chris a second or two to realise that it was static. He pulled his hand away from the monitor, feeling his fingers crackling at the distance. 

Not the _actual_ portal, Chris reminded himself. That was located in the Thorndyke Science Building across town, but they couldn't exactly haul it around, so a secondary one had been constructed in the University Labs, thanks to a grant from the Thorndyke University Fund. Actually, the only reason that Station Square even _had_ a Mathematical Mechanics and Quantum Studies Department (and his dad hadn't even been able to _say _that when he signed the forms to legalise it) was because of that grant. The town had been seriously hyped up about extra-dimensional theory and scientific study into alternate dimensions ever since the Chaos Incident six years ago. 

The possibility of other worlds and realities besides their own hadn't exactly been something humanity was ready for, but far be it for anyone to say that they weren't going to rise to the challenge. Hence the fact that scientists all over the globe had suddenly started becoming very interested in building portals. Including this one, right here in the Station Square University. It looked nothing like the portal Chris and his Grandfather had constructed but then again, it was a far simpler model, constructed on a single metal coil formation, rather than in a ring. 

'But this portal doesn't even _work_ rightChris murmured. Even if there had been an alignment between the two worlds at this very moment, the best thing _this_ portal could have done was give the two worlds a few seconds' glimpse of each other. It had been constructed for observation only. Surely a full connection wasn't possible. There was no sense in getting his hopes up about it... 

And yet the signal continued to flicker. Binary code danced across the screen in patterns it shouldn't have been able to and before Chris could think how to react to this, the codes on the screen disappeared, the red light died away, and the reaction, apparently, ceased. 

Danny barely had time to ask exactly what all that had been about before the lights returned. No longer flashing red, but _green_. Somehow Chris didn't think that this was a good thing. As they watched, the panels across every one of the twenty six computers in the room began to light up, every button started glowing, every screen started shining, and the rest of the building seemed suddenly as dark as midnight. 

The portal wasn't being still and silent any longer. But it wasn't reacting the way he had imagined it would either. A trail of green light was jumping back and forth between the coils of the portal, rather than flowing smoothly in a spiral the way the energy should have flown. _Because it's not drawing its energy from our power sources is it?_ _This isn't just our systems working over time. It _isn't

_Chaos Control... _

'What? You're kidding, right?' Danny glanced at him in amazement and Chris realised he had spoken aloud. 'You're telling me _that's_ Chaos Control? 

'I... have no idea,' Chris murmured. 'Francis, I told you to _call us_ if you saw anything unusual!' 

'But that panel was beeping all night, I thought it _was_ normal!' Francis said. 'What's going on is there a problem?'

Chris opened his mouth to answer that question, then realised that he didn't know how to. Whether or not this was a problem wasn't clear to him at the moment. Either way he was pretty sure his heart shouldn't have been pounding the way it was. 

He speed-read the data on the screen trying to work out what the machine could possibly be doing. It made no sense. The beeping noise was growing steadily louder, but he still didn't have the slightest idea _what_ it was warning them about. His every attempt to diagnose whatever error was occurring was met with just another flashing red light. 

And now that they were actually aware of it, the reaction seemed to double, and then quadruple. The message spreading from computer to computer in a chain of green light and binary code. 

'Chris,' Francis said slowly. 'Something's wrong I... I think we ought to cut the power.' 

'No!' Chris snapped. 'Just turn it to a lower setting, _don't_ switch it off.'

'Chris, I don't think that's gonna help, it's—'

'Francis, if we cut the signal we might not get it back.'

'Chris what're you talking abo...' Francis hesitated, suddenly catching on. 'Oh no. No _way_, you are _not_ doing that to us again, Chris, don't even think about it!'

Chris ignored her. Not deliberately, but he did. He wasn't going to let himself be distracted from this. Not now. Not when he had no idea what was happening or why. All he knew was that it had to be connected to the Other World. To _Sonic_...

'Buddy, seriously, it looks as if it's going to short out the room!' Danny sounded a lot more serious than he usually did, and Francis had clutched her arms tightly around her chest, as if suddenly cold. 

'Look, if something's happening here then I'm sorry, I really thought it was _meant_ to be like that! It was there when you left last night and... And Chris you're freaking me out.' 

Since last night... Chris caught that part of Francis's sentence alright. This had been happening all _night_ and he hadn't even _been_ here? What exactly had he been missing? 

_'Something's happening, and I want to know what it is...' _

Chris stepped back in alarm at the voice appearing in his head out of nowhere. Where had _that_ come from? 

_No. Not right... Not right at all, something's going on here_. 

And then the lights...

...Went out. 

It happened so quickly that nobody even had time to blink. There wasn't even a crackle or a spark to signify that the building's supply had blown out, and even if it _had_, wasn't this the middle of the _morning_? There was no way things should have gotten so dark so quickly. Somewhere in the new found darkness, Francis yelped and Danny crashed into a table and swore under his breath. 'Ach! What did I tell you? The place is short circuiting, Chris!' 

Chris felt a shiver. It came from nowhere and ran right up his spine, accompanied by a sensation that made it feel as if the whole world was being thrown out of balance. 

_Not Chaos Control. _Chris realised. _Not Chaos Control at all... _And then his thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of something hard and cold striking him right in the chest. 

Chris's body reacted to the pain and shock several seconds before his brain did, but even his survival instincts were much too slow. He'd have to be lightning fast – Sonic fast– to ever anticipate something like that. Then came the light. Bright green and glaring into everything, shining right through the screens of the computers and the metal of the walls... The quake-proof building shuddered and the air around the now shining portal seemed to be filled with green stars. 

The whole world stopped dead. And for approximately fifty seconds, so did Chris. 

* * *


	6. Five: Portals Don't Work Like That

**You know there's trouble when Scarab starts posting cliches...**

* * *

Five.

_Thirty seconds and counting... _

Cream had let go of his hand, but she stayed very close to Knuckles' side as the light grew ever brighter all around them. He had to admit it; the kid had guts. Not that he hadn't already known that before, but moments like this served to reinforce the fact. Here they were, standing in the remains of the Master Emerald's brilliance and watching the sky literally rip itself apart over their head, and Cream wasn't so much as trembling. 

Twenty minutes earlier, she had been organizing a picnic in the sunset, now she was facing down potential catastrophe with a calm expression in her wide brown eyes. Knuckles honestly didn't know what to make of her. 

Then again, Cream wasn't exactly his primary concern right now. By now the fragments of the Master Emerald were too far away for him to be able to make out their individual glimmers, either visually or through any kind of sixth sense. Their lights had merged together in the sky far above their heads, to create a single halo of green light. 

_**...Cut the signal we might not get it back!**_

Knuckled scowled, and didn't pretend to know exactly where those words had come from or who they belonged to. They were distorted and vague, and might not even have really been there. Cream seemed to hear it too, and cast him a glance, but Knuckles didn't return it. 

'Wherever it goes,' he muttered to himself again. 'I go.' 

There they were again. The images in his mind of the eyes as bright as broken Chaos Emeralds, shining at him through the darkness. The half moon. And something between it and the Emerald... 

Knuckles' didn't know what it could mean, but he had at least a vague idea of what half of them were. This was something to do with the other world, no doubt about it. But as for a portal _into_ the other world... Knuckles wasn't so sure about that. It didn't _look_ right, for one thing... butthe light that had touched down atop the Temple now began to spread outwards in a growing circle, advancing on them slowly. 

When the spreading beam of the green portal touched him, Knuckles felt for a second as if the Master Emerald was back and whole again, right in front of him. The sensation was one of total utter calm, nothing at all like the tremors and explosions they had been going through a few minutes earlier. 

Knuckles looked up again, and though he knew that they weren't really there, he could still see the lights all around them. The air was filled with a thousand points of green light, linking together in a deep, black sky. Tiny crystal-like structures, with spider-web like arms joining each fragment to half a dozen others. 

The Master Emerald was doing this. Now, if Sonic would just hurry up and get _back_ here... 

'Knuckles?' Cream asked quietly, probably reading one of the thousands of questions he had in his expression. 

'I have no idea, Cream,' he said, evenly. 'But whatever it is, it's happening right now.' 

He heard Cream swallowing. 'I'm not afraid.'

'Of course not,' Knuckles answered, and found to his surprise that he meant it. Cream looked back at the sky, reaching one hand above her head timidly. She could feel the gateway opening, just as he did – the sensation of static prickling across his fur and quills, like tiny bolts of electricity. 

It was all that Knuckles could do to begin the final countdown in his head. 

_Fourteen..._

_Thirteen..._

_Twelve..._

_Eleven... _

_ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss_

He might not be the _fastest_ person in the universe, but he was probably close to it. 

Sonic knew this. And really, travelling a mile through the forest to get to Tails' place, Amy's place and back again with a forty five second time limit? Piece of cake. Sonic could run that in his sleep (literally, even, if he ever had too much to eat before bed). 

Of course, he had been counting upon Tails actually _being_ at home. Except that he wasn't. The X-Tornado was gone from the workshop bay, and the door had been left half open, as if whoever lived there had left in as much of a hurry as Sonic had arrived. 

He zipped through the house and workshop a few times, always coming to a stop by the plant pot, sitting on the table top. He even wasted about five seconds to reach out and pat its leaves. 'Hey there, you got any idea where your owner went? I'm kinda in a hurry here.' 

The plant didn't have much to say for itself, but Sonic listened carefully, anyway. You never knew with these things. The seed that Cosmo left behind... He actually wouldn't be all that surprised if it knew that something was up. 

A third sweep around the house and down the street and back however, revealed no signs of Tails anywhere. No sign of Amy at her home, either. And with the X-Tornado gone from the workshop... 

Damn it. Both of them AWOL at the one moment he needed them to be around. Wasn't zipping off someplace without telling people where they were going first supposed to be his job? 

And then there was a tremble, so sudden that Sonic didn't think anyone who wasn't as fast as he was would even feel it. The leaves of the plant seemed to shudder in a breeze which wasn't there. 

'Whoa... You felt that too, huh?' 

There was no response except for another rumbling sensation under his feet, this time barely strong enough to rattle the surrounding tools. Sonic sighed. The Master Emerald was going crazy and here he was, talking to a pot plant. Sheesh. 

He was about to do a final search of the building when the lights started blazing. For just a second, it seemed as if night was trying to turn back into day and failing. Sonic returned to the door of Tails' house in a flash, to discover that the distant light of the Master Emerald, despite now being a lot further away, was definitely way brighter than it had been forty-five seconds ago. 

Sonic frowned and scuffed his shoes in the dirt. One of the fastest guys in the world and he'd _still_ managed to run out of time. 'Aw, man, looks like we're gonna miss the party...' 

* * *

_Ten..._

_Nine... _

_Eight..._

_Seven..._

'You're going the wrong way, Tails.' 

Tails glanced between the X-Tornado's radar screen, and the distant plume of bright, green light, filling the sky ahead of them. 'A_my_ we've been through this about a dozen times already, I know exactly where I'm going.'

'Yeah, I know that. And I've _told_ you all those times that the way you're going is the _wrong_ way!'

'But... the Master Emerald is _that_ way!' Tails said, exasperatedly pointed in the direction of the green glare. 'And the quake was caused by something in that direction! If Sonic's anywhere then he'll be there.' 

'Well _my_ carefully honed instincts are telling me that that's _not_ the way we should be going.' 

Tails sighed. It was Amy who had gotten them up here. Her logic was that if there was an explosion anywhere in their immediate vicinity, then the odds were Sonic was somewhere nearby it. Well, Sonic or Eggman, and since ether was a pretty big concern, they had better "Get the X-Tornado up in the air on the double and start looking for them already!" 

Tails couldn't really argue with her logic, but he wasn't exactly a big fan of other people telling him how to fly his own plane. You'd think she trusted his piloting by now. Still, where Sonic was concerned, Tails didn't think Amy trusted anything except her own mallet-hand. She always got jumpy whenever she thought he might be in trouble, and right now, Amy was functioning purely on "Sonic-Sense", which conflicted directly with Tails' "Common Sense" and was resulting in some very awkward and irritating back-seat piloting. 

'Amy I'm following a radar signal, there's no way I could possibly be off track. Will you please try and relax? I'm sure Sonic's perfectly fine.'

'That's easy for you to say!' Amy snapped. 

'Actually, no it's not. I'm worried too. More about Knuckles, though. We don't know if Sonic was even there, but if that _was_ the Master Emerald we felt...' 

'Then Knuckles was _definitely_ around,' Amy said, leaning back in her seat with her arms folded. '_Damn_ it. What's going on here, Tails? What exactly are you flying us into?'

'I dunno but whatever it is, it's big,' Tails muttered. He'd bet a Chaos Emerald that Sonic was already heading straight for it though, whatever it was. Actually, he was surprised that they hadn't already seen him. He kept one eye on the radar and one upon the distant column. It seemed so strange and difficult to focus on. And so _bright_... 

'It kind of looks...' Tails trailed off. 

'Kind of looks?' Amy prompted. 'Like _what_, Tails?'

'Like... a really badly formed, quantum-generated aerial transportation column,' Tails finished, uneasily. 

'Yeah, and what's _that_ in English?' 

'A really weird portal in the sky.'

'Well why didn't you just _say_ that?' Amy grumbled. There was a silent pause before something small and extremely fast began catching on the edge of Tails' radar screen. Amy squeaked. 'Tails, down there: it's Sonic!' 

'I know!' Tails said. 'He's coming up on the radar right in front of me. Just hold on tight, Amy, I'm gonna pop the visor.' 

Practically before he finished his sentence, cold air started rushing into Tails face at high speed as the X-Tornado's protective shielding folded back into itself. He knew that Sonic couldn't hear very well when he was going so fast, but he could still _see_ them well enough, and Tails saw Amy waving furiously to get the attention of the speeding blue light now racing alongside the typhoon. Sonic slowed down just enough for Tails to make out his grinning face. 

'Tails! Going my way, buddy?' 

Tails grinned. 'Sure! Wanna lift?' 

Sonic shrugged (it was kind of weird that he could do that while going as fast as he was, but he managed, nonetheless). 'My way's faster. Only I think we're already late, anyway, so—'

And then he was gone. But only for a second, before a blue blur landed with a thump on the X-Tornado's right wing. '—Why not?' Sonic finished with a grin. Where'd you guys go? I was looking for ya! We're gonna be late for Knuckles' big surprise.' 

'Looking for _us_? We've been looking for _you_!' Amy yelled. 'Or rather I've been _saying_ we should be looking for you.' 

'Well he was going the same direction as us anyway! C'mon, Amy, no back-seat piloting!' Tails frowned and looked back at Sonic. '_What_ surprise?'

'He doesn't know yet!' Sonic yelled over the rushing wind. 'That's why it's a surprise.'

Tails wondered why those words gave him a rather cold feeling in the stomach, but decided against pursuing the thought. 

'What? Sonic, what's going _on_ over there!' Amy pointed sharply in the direction of the glowing light. 

'Not sure, but Knuckles' thinks it's some kind of gateway!' Sonic yelled. 

'Gateway?' Tails hesitated. '...You mean like a portal? It's Chris's world?'

'He wasn't sure about that. Maybe.' Sonic grinned with casualness only he could possibly possess in the face of as potential catastrophe (and from the wing of a fast-moving aircraft). 'Be kinda cool if it was, you think?' 

Tails but his lip, shielding his eyes against the wind ripping across the Tornado's hull. 'I don't know. If it is, then I'm pretty sure we shouldn't be heading straight _for_ it, you _know_ what'll happen if we end up there.' 

'Yeah I know, I know, time freezing, worlds colliding, major destruction and all that. No big. Whatever's coming we'll just have to deal with it when we get there. Oh, yeah, and the Master Emerald's broken into pieces. Tiny ones.' He held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. 'That's what's causing all of that light.' 

'Oh, great,' Amy groaned. 'So anything else we should know about before we just fly into a bunch of glowing Emerald pieces?' 

Sonic grinned. 'Well, only if you wannaknow how Knuckles likes his cakes!' 

Tails blinked. '...Uh. Should I ask?'

'Probably be better if you don't, buddy.' 

Tails heard Amy grunt uncertainly in the seat behind him. 'Sonic, something seems wrong, that doesn't look anything like the portal to the Other World did, to me.' 

Sonic shrugged, still clinging to the edge of the Tornado's wing with his fingertips and nothing more. Tails knew he could break the sound barrier several times over and probably perform several barrel loops and Sonic wouldn't so much as stumble. 'Don't ask me! I haven't seen a lot of portals. I guess they might not all look the same... Whatever it is, Knuckles and Cream are right in the middle of it!' 

Tails didn't have time to comment before the signal on his radar trebled, then quadrupled and then vanished off the screen altogether. When he looked up, he saw the luminous column approaching them had changed from green, to a near pure white.

'I'm... thinking we should go faster,' Amy piped. 

'Good idea,' Sonic's weight vanished suddenly from the wing of the Tornado and reappeared besides them momentarily. 'But you know we're still way late...' 

'Then let's try not to be any later!' Amy snapped. 'Tails, can't this machine fly any faster?'

'Hey, you were complaining about me spending too much time upgrading it earlier!' 

'Never mind that now, just _fly_!' 

* * *

_Six..._

_Five..._

_Four..._

Chris heard the countdown in his head, but had no idea where it was coming from. All he knew (from personal experience) was that countdowns for _anything_ were usually a Very. Bad. Thing and would, more often than not, result in explosions and damage to his immediate person. 

He figured he didn't actually _want_ to see where he was, but opened his eyes to look anyway. 

It wasn't dark. Not exactly. Because darkness was something which came when the lights went out, or when you closed your eyes to sleep. The world was still there –it just didn't seem to be.

But there was no world here. No light, no darkness, and certainly nothing solid hiding within it. 

He stood up as slowly as he could manage, almost afraid of moving too quickly. It was hard to find your centre of balance when you had no floor or sky to base things on. The pain he had felt a few minutes earlier was still there, but didn't seem nearly as immobilising as it had then. Now it was nothing more than the _memory_ of pain. A dull ache hung stubbornly around the left side of his chest, and no matter how he tried; Chris couldn't find a heartbeat there. 

_Have to be dreaming, then. Or hallucinating, or something. There's no way a person _can't_ have a heartbeat unless they're..._

_...Okay, stopping that train of thought right there. _

He held out a hand in front of his face, mostly for the sake of just seeing something _move_, his fingertips hung as a stark outline against a dark background. So far as he could tell, he was standing in the middle of a pitch black nothing. Except that didn't make any sense, because if he was standing in a pitch black nothing, how could he even _see_ his hand in the first place? No light meant no vision, right?

Damn it, dream-logic was confusing. 

He'd had these kinds of dreams before anyway. Lucid dreams, they called them, where you were aware of _everything_ and exactly how real or unreal it all was, but couldn't quite get out of it. They were more maddening than normal dreams, really, because in _normal_ dreams at least you weren't being constantly taunted with the fact that you _could_ get out, if you only knew how to wake up. 

He had read that some people could control their dreams, to an extent, but had discovered through a process of trial and error that it really _wasn't_ a good idea to try. Or it wasn't, when you were a person who had spent any length of time jumping back and forth between different worlds (and age groups), anyway. You couldn't ever really control what happened inside of your head, the way you might control an equation, or a computer program. Trying to manipulate his own dreams never usually turned out well, so Chris settling for just standing perfectly still and waiting for what might happen next. Something _would_ happen. Eventually. Probably. 

It felt like forever before something did. That something came in the form of a glimmer of light –a shiver of green, glimmering briefly in a distance where no distance had existed only moments earlier. Just like the one he had seen back in the lab. 

'Oh yeah... I remember that now.' he spoke this aloud, even though there was no one there to talk to. It kind of made him feel better, to hear his voice and know that he was really here himself. And that was all he had time to say to himself before the distant glimmer suddenly became much closer. 

It changed from a far off light, to an up close bullet in less time than it took for him to draw a breath, and then it seemed to slow to a crawl as long as _several_ breaths as it passed him, as if he could reach out and touch it. He didn't, though. He kept his arms wrapped tightly around his chest and simply watched it pass – a shard edged, pointed shard of crystal charging through the stillness all around it. And then there was another one. And another. It didn't take long before there were too many to count, each one slowing as it passed him by, before zooming off again. 

Like Chaos Emeralds. Chris realised. Something else inside of him said: _Like shards of chaos, cutting into time_, but Chris had no idea where that came from. He should've been able to look right at them, and yet his eyes kept sliding off to one side or the other, unable to hold onto the image of it in his head. 

_Just_ like Chaos Emeralds. Spreading rapidly all around him, hints of something's glowing in the nothingness. They swept past him at speeds that probably would've made even Sonic quail, before vanishing. In the back of his mind, Chris could hear an annoyed, angry and maybe rather anxious voice. 

'_Wher... the hell does... think... going?' _

All of a sudden, Chris was reminded of his first journey through the portal. The way the Master Emerald's power had closed in on him and sucked the air out of his lungs hard and long enough for him not to realise it was sucking six years of his life away from him at the same time. He remembered the hunger that he hadn't realised at the time was in fact, coming from the Chaos within the Emerald itself. 

'_No way. Not... too. Not... C...is? For ... sakes!' _

Chris figured this would probably be a really good time to wake up, but it wasn't like he had a say in the matter. All he could do was stand and watch as the shards of Emerald played and shifted throughout the nothingness –substance where substance should not exist. 

_**Just like you, human. **_

Chris had no idea where _that_ voice came from either, but it wasn't the same as the one he'd heard before. He turned to look back into the darkness where the Emerald shards were coming from but it was impossible to pinpoint the location again; there were so many of them and they came from every direction and angle, spreading trails of light behind them. Whatever was going on, he has absolutely no idea what it was. 

And then the nothingness seemed to boom at him, like a shout so loud that you felt it long before you heard it, uttering two words: _**Get out**_Everything (or rather, nothing) around him throbbed with what felt like a single, strong heartbeat and Chris clutched at his chest, even though he knew the sound hadn't come from him. 

The nothing, it seemed, wasn't such a nothing after all. It definitely wasn't nearly as _empty_ as it seemed to be 

By the time he looked down and noticed the blood on his hands, he was already half awake again and it was too late for him to wonder where it came from. 

_Three..._

_Two..._

_O... _


	7. Six: Follow the Echidna

**Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit are still very much appreciated. As would not running away from the humans be. They're important, trust me!**

* * *

Six.

The Citizens of Station Square were fairly used to bizarre things happening in their lives on a regular basis.

This was no surprise. Station Square _had, _after all, been the sight of "The Chaos Incident" six years earlier. On that day the city had become the adopted home of a certain Blue Hedgehog who had practically taken over the Media for the next ten months. Asides from this, the Chaos Incident had introduced mankind to some rather far-flung concepts and ideas which most people hadn't previously considered. The fact of it was that Sonic the Hedgehog had been solid; in-the-flesh proof that other universes not only _existed_, but were even potentially accessible by humankind.

Over the last six years therefore, the Scientific Community had been abuzz with stories of alternate worlds and universes. Governments all over the world had begun ploughing money into the Mathematical Sciences in hopes of coming to understand, and maybe even finding a way to access, the world that Sonic came from.

Most of the people in Station Square, however, while very interested in cute creatures from other worlds and the existence of supersonic hedgehogs, were not so enthralled by Chaos Theory. Most people had no understanding of complicated quantum mathematics, couldn't provide anyone who asked with even a vague definition of "Chaos Control" and had never touched a copy of "National Scientist Weekly" in their lives. They just went about their daily lives as they had in the days before Sonic arrived, and vanished from their world, with little thought about where their furry blue hero had came from. They had no idea of the significance Chaos Control held to their world. They had no idea that one of the most remarkable forces in the entire galaxy had been sitting right on their metaphysical doorsteps for centuries.

So honestly, most people didn't have the slightest idea what was happening when the morning sky above Station Square turned the same colour as if it were late evening, and was suddenly filled with a thousand tiny green stars.

If any of them had possessed even the vaguest understanding about what was going on at that exact moment, they probably would've started running for their lives. As it happened, most people merely stood there in surprise and confusion, staring up at the suddenly pink-and-green speckled sky. They watched, enraptured, as the tiny green stars glimmered in the air for a moment, before each one began to sparkle and shoot away through the sky. They stood perfectly still as a single bright chunk of green light settled over their own city, and began to glow more brightly than ever. Those who were not within the boundaries of these glowing green lights said not a word as the colour began to 

drain away from the air and sky around them until all that was left of the world was pale grey and green.

Only then did people begin to panic, and by that point it was far too late.

Professor Charles Thorndyke, who was working in his underground laboratory on the edge of town when he saw the breaking news report on TV, was one of few people who _did_ have an understanding. The first thing he did (after dropping a bottle of machine-cleansing fluid and tripping over his untied shoelaces) was grab the nearest phone and attempt to call his grandson. The line was dead. He tried another number, this time for his son's workplace –again, the phone offered him nothing but static. Not even a damned operator or answering machine for him to yell at.

Only now did the sensation of cold anxiety settle into the bottom of his stomach. He raced to the elevator out of the laboratory, and started searching for his car keys with a mad speed that most people his age weren't fortunate enough to be graced with.

'Good lord, it's happening again, isn't it? It's actually happening... Chaos Control.'

* * *

Knuckles decided in that moment that he really hated portals.

More to the point, he hated being _inside_ of portals when they were spinning you around and breaking your world into a billion pieces. He hated the way this one was making Cream shriek, more out of surprise than fear, and the way the lights were so bright they prevented him from getting a good look at anything. There was nothing he could _punch_ at in here in order to make the world stop spinning. He hated the lack of control.

To the best of Knuckles' knowledge, most portals either took the form of tunnels –direct, visible warps through time-space to the appropriate location– or instant teleportation where you were in one place one moment and somewhere entirely different the next. This portal did neither of those things. In fact, as if it were trying to twist his entire body inside out before they got to... wherever it was taking them.

And then the lights disappeared and were replaced with something much deeper ad colder than any darkness. They weren't moving; they couldn't be, because there was nothing for them to move _through_. But they weren't staying _still_ either. For a few extremely long seconds there was silence and nothing all around them, and then the nothing exploded. He could feel Cream clutching his hand again, and the sudden rushing of wind in his face as the portal –_finally_– dropped them off wherever it had been taking them. Knuckles hit the ground with a rather painful "thud", and something else, presumably Cream, then proceeded to land right on top of him driving out whatever air hadn't already been forced from his lungs by the initial impact.

'What the... _Knuckles_? Where the heck did you two come from?'

Knuckles winced. Okay. Maybe saying that he just _hated _portals was something of an understatement...

* * *

The good news for Alisa Armstrong was that she _hadn't_ been fired from the job on her very first day. The Campus Circular Bus had arrived at the appropriate location an entire two minutes before her meeting with the Head of Department was to begin. The driver (who _had_ been the one that called the Thorndyke kid "pipsqueak", much to his chagrin) was even kind enough to pull up right outside the door.

The Head of Department in question (his name was Horatio Willis, right? Alisa jotted it down in her mental notebook for safekeeping) then gave her his patented tour of the facility, and had insisted upon showing her every one of the vending machines in the hall. Alisa was also re-exposed to a lot of facts she already knew (she'd done her research after all) about the system of learning in her new workplace.

The Scientific Technology department of Station University had a total of eighty-two undergraduate students, most of whom were studying Computer Programming, Advanced Science, Physical Science, or Mathematical Mechanics (including some impressive looking Quantum Theory electives). There were eighteen students who would be under her tutelage in the Basic Programming Class this year, and four of those students were actually only taking the subject as part of the extra-credit scheme. One of those four, she had discovered upon glancing at her class list for the year, was Christopher Thorndyke.

Well, Alisa thought, if she hadn't had enough time to get used to him in the ten minute bus journey over here, maybe she'd have time in the next eight-to-ten months.

She was walking down the sixth floor corridor inspecting what were to become her new classrooms when the explosion happened.

Or at least, Alisa _thought_ it was an explosion. The ground certainly seemed to tremble dramatically under her feet, sending her stumbling into a message board. It couldn't have lasted longer than fifteen seconds though, the sensation was inconsistent with an earthquake, and the last time she checked, earthquakes didn't create blinding lights that shone with the intensity of an atomic blast anyway. The light itself seemed to hang on forever, but eventually died away, leaving behind a faint residue, as if the windows were tinted green.

'What... in the name of heaven?'

There was no one present to offer her an answer. Staggering to the window and looking down into the courtyard, she saw that several students had paused and were staring upwards at the pink and green sky in sheer amazement. Obviously this wasn't something that happened with great regularity, then.

She had been about to head back to the tutors lounge when she heard someone screaming from a nearby classroom. Well, if it wasn't one thing then it was another, she supposed... Alisa turned back again and raced in the direction of the cry, checking in two empty rooms before she discovered the right one.

The moment she was inside, Alisa found herself sucking in a breath and trying very hard not to feel as if she'd just walked right onto the set of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Wow.

She'd known that Station Square was one of the highest funded Universities in the state, but... _wow_.

She had to admit, this place was a lot more impressive than the study chambers. The room (which was at least the size of a small warehouse) seemed decked out like a NASA Control Centre, with added streamlining. Several large machines –probably supercomputers of some kind– were scattered across two walls, a table sat in a third corner and on the back wall stood a huge coil of silver metal about the height of a grown man, set amongst several control panels... Alisa had no idea what all of the equipment back there was supposed to be, but if she were to hazard a guess, she'd say that Station Square University was one of many in the state which were currently dabbling in Portal technology. It shouldn't have surprised her, really. This _was_ the sight of the _Chaos_ _Incident_ six years ago, after all...

Alisa did, however, feel more justified in being surprised by the _other_ sight which greeted her the second she entered the room. Namely the sight of student (presumably) passed out in front of the brightly glimmering portal, a girl on the brink of terrified tears and a boy looking like he didn't know whether to hit the guy currently lying on the floor or start chest compressions.

It took Alisa less than a second to work out who the other boy was. Pipsqueak.

'Oh... my...'

* * *

The first thing Chris's mind could come up with (as soon as he was actually capable of forming a coherent thought again), was "Ouch".

The second thing he thought, as soon as he became aware of the pain that had caused him to go "ouch" in the first place, was "where the heck am I now?"

'_...Chris?' _

'_Holy... what in the name of the Guardians happened here? Danny, was that portal caused by you?' _

'_What? No! We don't even know how to work that thing; it just started up and... And look, I don't want to cause a panic here, but I don't think he's breathing.' _

_Ouch_, again. Chris had absolutely no idea who or what they were talking about, but he wished they'd talk a little quieter. After the strange, booming silence he had experienced inside of the Nothingness, their voices were just a little too shrill for him to deal with right now.

'_You... You're here, aren't you? You're really here. But I don't understand, how did you—?'_

'_Does it matter? We're _here_, now what's going on?!'_

'_I... we don't _know_, it just happened.' _

'_He just_ stopped breathing_ for no apparent reason? Look, I'm no expert on your species, but I'm pretty sure you're _not_ supposed to do that!' _

Weren't supposed to do what? Chris thought, and he tried to ask it aloud, but doing so proved to be difficult. His tongue seemed to be frozen in his throat.

'_Danny, call the emergency number already, we're not helping matters by just standing here!' _

'_But... but I don't understand, what's happening?'_

_Good question_, Chris thought. He would have liked to ask it aloud if he could only get his voice box working again.

'_We don't know! He might've gotten electrocuted or... or been hit with an outburst from that portal or something, it was too dark for us to tell...' _

'_And he _didn't_ activate the portal in the first place?'_

'_Not unless he's able to cause Chaos Control without a power source he didn't. Damn it, Chris, buddy, look at me!' _

'_Well Sonic always managed!' _

'_Sonic isn't a _human_, he— Hold on, what the heck are you guys _doing_ here, anyway? Where _is_ he?' _

Sonic?

Chris had the feeling it was nothing more than sheer frustration (plus the effect that hearing the word "Sonic" used as a noun always seemed to have on him), which made him able to snap out of the stupor and open his eyes. The good news was that he now had a ceiling overhead and solid ground beneath him. The bad news was that his head still felt as if someone had taken an oversized mallet to it, and he found himself sucking air into his lungs too quickly, as if he hadn't drawn a breath in far too long.

'Holy...' Danny started to curse and then stopped himself and drew a sharp breath of his own. 'Oh-kay, false alarm, panic over. Chris, are you okay?'

'...Chris?'

_Francis' voice_, Chris realised. Though it took him several seconds to work this out, seeing as the last time he'd heard Francis sound the way she did now, she'd had a bad case of flu and had been trying to talk to him through a tissue. Her eyes were as red now as they had been then, and Chris felt his chest clenching as he realised why. 'God... _damn it_, Chris, we _told_ you it was short circuiting! What is it _with_ _you_ and doing crazy things with portals?!'

'Um... I'm sorry?' Chris muttered, though he wasn't exactly sure what he was apologising for. Someone –probably Danny– had a hand on his shoulder, making sure he didn't topple over again as he sat up, and less than a second later, someone else was throwing their somewhat short arms around Chris's neck, sobbing and holding on for dear life.

At which point Chris started questioning whether or not he might still be hallucinating. '_Cream_? Is... is that _you_?'

'...Yes.' A small voice squeaked from somewhere near his right ear. 'I'm here. But... but for a second there I thought you _weren't_, Chris.'

'Actually make that two minutes and twenty five seconds,' Danny sighed, slumping back against a computer console. 'Jeeze, man, you _scared _us

By this point Chris was utterly confused, and he was still trying to shake away the frightening images gathering in the back of his mind: the visions of deep Nothingness, screaming voices, bleeding hands and Emerald pieces shattering a nonexistent sky. 'But... what did I do?'

There was an annoyed and all too familiar grunt besides him, at which point Chris realised it wasn't Danny who had helped him sit up. He tried to turn and look, but it was kind of hard with Cream still clinging to his neck.

'It's more a case of what you _didn't_ do: breath, for example.'

Chris blinked. '...Okay, now I _know_ I'm dreaming.'

'Afraid not, kid,' Knuckles muttered. 'We're really here, and things really _are_ about to go completely insane around here.'

Chris _did _hear the last part of that sentence, he really did. But he was still too distracted by the fact that Knuckles was right _here_, standing in front of him with his arms folded and a serious, expecting-trouble expression written all over his face, to care too much about whether or not the world was ending. 'Hey, I never said it was a _bad_ dream.'

'Not from your perspective maybe. But the way I see it, the Master Emerald shattering into thousands of pieces is never a good herald to any reunion.' Knuckles paused then, and softened his tone considerably before asking: 'Are you alright?

Chris swallowed. As nice as it was to have Cream back, he really needed to turn his head. 'Um... I'll feel better once I've worked out exactly what you just said about the Master Emerald... or possibly worse.'

'I'm placing my bets on worse,' Knuckles said.

'But... but you're both okay, right?' Chris snapped himself back to the present. 'What about the others? Sonic...?'

'We have no idea where the others are, or if they're even here,' Knuckles said. 'The Emerald shattered and then opened some kind of intergalactic gateway to bring us here (to a place I'm fairly sure we're _not_ supposed to be due to the fact that time could grind to a halt all around us as a result, I might add). The next thing I know we're in this room, with you unconscious and we have no idea whatsoever what's happened to the Master Emerald. Oh, and Cream's lunch was wrecked, so we owe her mother a new crockery set... Apart from all that, I'd say we're not doing too badly, thanks for asking.'

'Same old Knuckles,' Francis sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. 'I see you haven't lost your charm.'

Chris smiled, in spite of himself. At least his head was pounding a little less now than it had been before. 'Hey, Cream, you can let go of me now, I'm okay, really.'

Cream did, though she seemed a little reluctant to. 'You... you didn't _look_ okay.' She said, sounding almost angry with him as she finally pulled away and stood there, wringing her small hands anxiously. 'You didn't! We don't know what happened, Chris, honestly we don't! There was all this light and... And then my mother's china blew _everywhere_, and Sonic was there, and then he wasn't and then the portal opened and we came _here_, and Francis was crying and you were lying there not _moving_ and... And Chris, who's that pretty lady over there looking at us funny?'

Chris started, his eyes turning in the direction that Cream was now looking. Alisa Armstrong stood there between the doorway and the first of the still glowing computers, her brown eyes wide in confusion.

'Um...' Francis squeaked unhelpfully. 'Yeah, who's that?'

'Oh boy,' Danny whistled through his teeth. 'This isn't good.'

Chris groaned in part exasperation, part pain. 'Um, guys? This would be Miss Armstrong. Miss Alisa Armstrong, she's um... taking us for Basic Programming this year.' _That is if she doesn't decide to up and quit right here and now. _

'Delighted, I'm sure,' Knuckles said dryly. Cream however clearly hadn't forgotten her manners, wiped her eyes and waved very politely to their bewildered visitor. 'Hello Miss Alisa Armstrong. My name is Cream, and this is my friend Knuckles and... And we know we're probably not supposed to be here, but I guess we are anyway, and we're very sorry about making so much noise, only we thought our friend Chris was hurt and... Um... It's very nice to meet you!' She finished this sentence with a squeak and started edging slowly behind Francis.

Alisa seemed to draw in a breath as quickly as Chris had himself a few moments ago. 'Let me guess, Mister Thorndyke,' she said, evenly. 'It's "a long story"?'

'Um... yeah,' Chris muttered. 'Miss Armstrong, I can explain this, I—'

Alisa interrupted. 'You can _explain_ exactly what you were doing conducting non-verified experiments into inter-world teleportation later, Mister Thorndyke. Right now, however...' She pointed in the direction of the nearby window. 'I think we have bigger problems to deal with.'

Chris glanced uncertainly at Knuckles for a second before the Echidna turned to face the window. 'Lady's talking my language, I'll give her that,' he muttered, before leaping up onto the window ledge. By this point, everyone had noticed the strange, green tint of the glass and the bizarre, shifting colours of the world outside. Knuckles pushed the window open as Chris staggered to his feet, with Francis's hands still wrapped around his right arm for support, even though he didn't really need it.

Within seconds everyone was gathered at the window, staring in part shock and part horror at the world before them.

'Oh... man,' Danny breathed. 'Now that's a crazy bit of weather if ever I saw it.'

"A crazy bit of weather", asit happened, was the understatement of the year. Roughly a mile and a half of the campus all around them was bathed in a poisonous green colouring. Several students were standing in the grounds below, also gazing up at the sky in confusion and shielding their eyes from the glaring light. The same colour, Chris suddenly realised, as the Master Emerald.

'...Knuckles?' Chris asked; realising that he was whispering but unable to convince his voice to sound any louder.

'Look up,' Knuckles said coldly. Chris did, and immediately regretted it. His eyes stung from the blaze overhead and he had to look away.

But it was what lay _outside_ of the glowing green field that was the most frightening. Everything that fell outside of the light seemed cold and grey, the clouds and buildings seemingly frozen in a single, dark moment. Several of the campus buildings had even been sliced right through, with half of them lying within the green shield, and half lying in the darkness beyond. If he strained his eyes further still, Chris could see that the entire skyline was dotted with thousands of green lights.

'Just like then...' Chris muttered quietly to himself, remembering the dream, and the booming voice, screaming at him to get out.

At those words, Knuckles turned and glared at him. 'Just like _when_?' he asked sharply. 'Chris, what's going on here?'

Chris stumbled back a little, alarmed by Knuckles' acidity. 'I- I don't know. I wasn't exactly conscious when this happened.'

'Well _something_ weird is going on, and us being here had got to have something to do with it.' Knuckles growled. 'The Emerald's energy is hanging around _everywhere_ here, Chris! Not least in the sky over our heads.'

'Wait, you mean that all those green lights are Chaos Emeralds?' Francis asked, anxiously, biting her lip in a way Chris hadn't seen since they were twelve years old.

'Hardly,' Knuckles said. 'They're fragments of the _Master Emerald_ itself. Something drew it to this world and is making all this happen. I've tried calling on the pieces, but they won't listen to me, and I have no idea why. Now _this_—' he brandished a hand at the distant wall of grey and green. 'What in the name of the Master Emerald were you people doing with that portal?'

'I already told you!' Chris yelled, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest, increasing along with his frustration. 'We weren't _touching_ the portal, there was a warning message flashing for a system failure when I got here this morning. None of us knew what it was. The next thing I know I'm hallucinating... whatever I was hallucinating and then _you_ two were here and...' Chris paused, letting out a breath. 'It's not _our_ fault this happened, you know, it just... it just _did_.'

Knuckles stared at Chris firmly for a moment, as if not entirely sure whether to believe him. There was something almost disconcerting about the hardness of the Echidna's gaze; as if he were seeing something in Chris that he himself was not aware of. Then Knuckles' gaze softened, and Chris felt the tension in the air around them lessen ever so slightly. His chest ached. 'I suppose that's the way it happened, then,' Knuckles said, not sounding entirely convinced.

'Of course it's the way it happened, Knuckles!' Cream squeaked, unhappily, and Chris gave her a grateful look. 'Chris wouldn't lie to us, you know that!'

'Um, _excuse_ me?'

Everyone turned to look at the slightly frazzled Alisa Armstrong. 'Listen,' she said. 'While I'm sure you people have some ah... _catching up_ to do, and that your idea of "catching up" might well involve a lot of accusations and yelling at each other for all I know, I _think_ we can probably save it for a more convenient time, don't you?'

Chris opened his mouth to comment, but Knuckles beat him to it. 'She's right,' Knuckles said, folding his arms. 'Something's not right here, and I intend to find what it is. There's Chaos energy _everywhere_... I can't even pinpoint it to...' His sentence trailed off and his expression changed steadily from anxious and angry, to surprised and concerned. 'Do you hear that?'

Chris was about to say that he didn't, but then he actually paused and paid attention to his surroundings. There was a sound alright, no doubt more obvious to Knuckles, but clearly audible to them as well now that they were actually listening.

Somewhere out on the campus grounds, someone was screaming for help.

Knuckles leapt from the window without giving them so much as an instant to stop him, and a few seconds later, Chris could hear the familiar, rapid pounding of Knuckles' fists smashing into stone as he shuffled his way down the side of the six story building.

Chris felt a tug on his lab coat and looked down to see Cream, clinging to him tightly on one side. 'I think Knuckles is really angry, Chris,' she whispered. 'We had better go after him before he smashes something important.'

'Yeah, I'm with the bunny on this one,' Alisa muttered, though no one was paying her much attention –they were too busy racing past her in the direction of the corridor.

* * *


	8. Seven: Where Your Heart Leads

**

* * *

**

The chapter title will make sense eventually. Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit appreciated.

Seven. 

It was a wild and brilliant dash that the Tornado made across the forests towards the temple where the plume of white energy still glowed with the intensity of a small sun. Occasionally a cobalt blur would become visible beneath then, glimpsed between the branches of the canopy, but Tails was too preoccupied with keeping one eye on his radar and one on his steering to pay Sonic much attention. He would probably beat them to it, anyway.

Amy didn't seem quite so reassured however, by the fact that Sonic was currently speeding into goodness only knew what without them. 'Um, Tails? When I said we needed to go _faster_—'

'Don't worry Amy, it's gonna be okay!' Tails said. Though really, he felt more like he was reassuring himself than the hedgehog in the seat behind him.

'Of course it's going to be okay,' Amy muttered, seemingly slightly irritated that he could assume she'd believe otherwise. 'It's just that the bright blue light that's been zipping through the forest underneath us? Just turned gold.'

Tails nodded, more to himself than in response to Amy's comment. He had observed the signal of Sonic's power spiking furiously on the radar the second his Chaos Control activated. It was a familiar sight; one he'd seen many times before. Still, Tails found himself wincing inwardly, still remembering what happened the _last_ time Sonic had felt the need to use Chaos Control like that. The last occasion that the seven Chaos Emeralds had been together in one place at the same time...

'...No. _Don't think about that, Tails. Not here. Not _now.'

'Well he goes Super all the time, right? Sonic probably just senses that something's up and he's preparing for whatever it might be.'

'You don't need to tell me that!' Amy snapped, though Tails didn't take it personally. He knew that her sharpness was just a result of anxiety. Truth be told, the nerves were gnawing away at his stomach by this point, too. 'So... so what exactly are we going to _do_, Tails? Just... fly right into that thing? It could be dangerous! In fact if Sonic's using Chaos Control before he's even _reached_ it, then it _has_ to be dangerous.'

'What else can we do?' Tails muttered uneasily, catching a glimpse of Sonic's golden blur, which by now was over half a mile ahead of them, zigzagging through the trees like a radio controlled comet. 'Knuckles and Cream are in there, we can't just leave them!'

'But we don't even know what it is! And like I said, Tails, if that's a _normal_ portal then my name isn't Amy Rose!'

'There's such thing as a _normal_ portal?' Tails asked.

'...Point.'

'And your name _is_ Amy Rose, right?' Tails grinned. 'Whatever it is, how could it possibly be something you can't handle?'

Amy huffed quietly. 'Hmph. Flatterer. But you're right, I guess.'

Tails felt a familiar tremble of energy as an oversized hammer materialised in his passenger's outstretched hand. He could imagine her smiling without needing to look. 'Whatever. I've got my mallet at the ready and Sonic as my personal compass. Guess we're as prepared as we're ever gonna be.' She stood up in her seat; seeming ready to beat the sky itself and making the X Tornado wobble furiously in the process of doing so. 'Let's up and attem, Tails! Follow that hedgehog!'

'That's the spirit!' Tails grinned as he pushed down on the accelerator for one last burst of speed.

The next thing that either of them saw was a solid wall of white and green energy, swallowing them up like the mouth of some gigantic Chaos Creature.

* * *

The three and a half minutes that it took the five of them to transverse six flights of stairs to ground level was all the time that the Echidna needed to disappear into the university grounds. By the time Chris had pushed through the double doors of the Forrester Building and into the courtyard, Knuckles was nowhere to be seen.

'Is it... just me?' Danny gasped, pausing at the bottom of the staircase to catch his breath in intermittent gasps. 'Or... has Knuckles there gotten a lot... _Faster_ in the last six and a half years or so?'

'More like you've gotten _slower_, Danny,' Francis muttered, still breathing fairly heavily herself, 'and you're... supposed to be the fitness freak of the group?'

'Hey... I was designed for... sparring arenas,' Danny wheezed. 'And for standing my ground for long periods of time. _Not_ for staircase athletics. Leave that to mister three-steps-at-a-time here.' He gave Chris a nudge in the side. 'Not bad for someone who wasn't... breathing five minutes ago... and with such... short legs.'

'That counts as a height related joke,' Chris muttered, still catching his own breath and listening for some sign as to where Knuckles had disappeared. The world around him felt like a Sonic-blur, with everything moving too fast for him to maintain any kind of focus. Still, he could make out the sound of crying somewhere in the distance –the same pain they had heard from the sixth floor. 'That way,' he said, and then took off in the direction of the library before anyone else could so much as draw a breath to comment. He thought he heard Miss Armstrong yelling after them as they went, but she was far behind them by now, struggling to keep up in her high heel shoes.

They rounded a corner where the screaming was loudest, and there was Knuckles, gripping a boy's hands tightly in both of his and pulling for all he was worth. It took Chris several moments to work out why. Knuckles had come to a halt right at the edge of the strange green light surrounding the campus buildings, and lying on the ground, half his body inside, half outside of the green shield; literally suspended in midair as if he had been trying to leap for freedom when the wall of energy slammed down on him, was the boy. Knuckles was trying to drag the other half of his body free from the dark, grey wall of energy, but his 'Fight first, ask questions later' technique wasn't proving especially successful. All it seemed to be doing was making the boy cry out in pain.

'Knuckles, stop!' Chris yelled, even though he could tell from the look in Knuckles eyes that there was no stopping him now. He had no idea what was happening on the grey and cold side of the shield, but he knew that it was _hurting_ more than Knuckles fists ever could. The boy was caught between a rock and a hard place, with Knuckles on one side and the merciless clutch of grey energy on the other. There was no other way out.

Eventually, with enormous resistance, the boy's body began to inch slowly forwards, the shield of grey energy dragging at him all the while, like a rabid dog fighting to keep hold of a chew toy. Cream clutched Chris's hand tightly enough that he could feel her trembling. Francis was clutching at Danny for support, and all the while the boy was screaming and Knuckles was _pulling_ for all he was worth.

Knuckles fell back as the boy finally spilled out from the shield and hit the ground with a cry. Knuckles was on his feet instantly; teeth grit, rage blazing in his eyes. He all but growled at the wall of energy and it took all of Chris's self control not to jump forwards and pull Knuckles away before he could throw himself into it or something. He felt the aching sensation in his chest growing more and more like pain again. Something was _wrong _here. Wrong enough to make Knuckles so angry that he tried to fight against a wall of pure energy.

Francis was the first of them to approach after the boy fell to the ground, kneeling down beside him and reaching out a hand to touch his legs, but Knuckles wrapped a claw firmly around her wrist to hold her away. 'Stay back!' he snapped with an urgency that defied courtesy. 'Don't touch him! Whatever you do, Francis, stay away from anything to do with that... that _wall_.'

Francis drew back quickly, not needing to be told twice. The boy continued to sob quietly for a moment, seemingly paralysed from the waist down, unable to move or form a coherent sentence.

'That... Wall...' Chris repeated the words to himself. Now that they were up close, it honestly _did_ look like a wall –but a wall made out of grey liquid and frozen time. Chris could see the old fashioned stone doorway of the library just inside of it, looking like an old photograph seen from under water.

'Easy,' Knuckles said, gripping the boy's shoulder in the same way, Chris remembered, that he had once gripped Sonic, after both of them got on the wrong side of the formerly placid Emerl. 'It's alright. You're out now, it won't touch you again.'

The student looked up at him with tears in his eyes better suited to a lost child than an eighteen to twenty year old boy with a heavy metal T-shirt and a nose ring. Chris knew him from sight –had seen him hanging around the Library a few times. 'You... you're one of those guys, aren't you?' The boy whispered. 'O-One of those... those other world people, like that hedgehog. I-I've seen you. TV. You... you were on TV, that one time, when... when I was a kid... I-it was you, right? It was...'

'Yeah, that's me,' Knuckles muttered.

'T-thought so... Weird. You shouldn't be here now, you... I forget. D-did you win?' the boy asked, vaguely.

Knuckles grumbled to himself; sweeping a hand across the boy's legs without actually touching. 'Second place.'

'Oh... y-yeah. Behind... the cool robot. Least it _was_ cool, until it started smashing up the—'

His voice cut off with a cry of pain as Knuckles' hand brushed the hem of his jeans. The edge of the fabric seemed to crumble like plaster beneath the light touch, and Chris could only imagine what the skin and bone beneath it must have felt like. It was only when Miss Armstrong uttered a forcefully composed 'I'll call an ambulance, the rest of you stay right where you are and _don't_ touch that wall,' that anyone realised she had caught up with them. And then she was gone again just as quickly, in search of a phone that Chris hoped would actually _work_ when she found it.

'What... what about the rest of the building? What if there was someone else in there?' Francis asked, glancing at the boy as if he might blow up at any second. Chris couldn't say he blamed her. He had to take several deep breaths himself before he joined Knuckles kneeling at the boy's side.

'What's your name?' he asked as gently as he could, and couldn't help but flinch when the boy looked up at him with only half understanding eyes.

'...M-Miles.'

Cream uttered an uneasy squeak but otherwise remained silent. Chris forced himself to smile. 'Hey Miles. My names Chris, and this is Knuckles.'

'Knuckles, huh?' the boy half laughed, but the action sent a spasm of pain across his features at the same time. 'Yeah. T-that's his name. I cou... could've guessed, probably. And... and I know you, right? That Thorndyke kid. Only not a kid. S-shorter than he should be.'

Chris managed a half sincere smile. 'Yeah, I get that a lot. Listen, Miles, can you tell us whether there was anyone else in the Library?'

Miles's face twisted in pain for a few seconds. 'Yeah. I-I think there was but...' the boy twisted his head painfully, his entire lower torso seemingly paralysed against the cold pavement. 'But she must've got out, right? She was right behind me. She should be _there_, I don't...

Chris glanced at Knuckles, and figured that maybe the six months they spent cooped up on a space ship together had lead to their anticipating each other's every nuance, because he could practically _feel_ the muscles clenching in the Echidna's shoulders as he spoke. 'Who was right behind you?'

'I. I don't know, she wasn't... I don't _know_ her, she's n-not my class but... but she was _there_, she... This girl. Sh-she was in a wheelchair. I-I tried to go back for her; I really did, but this... The _walls_... And the _building_, everything _changed_, it all happened so quickly, I _couldn't_...'

Wheelchair.

Chris felt a cold sensation connecting with the ache in his chest. There was only one person on this campus with a wheelchair.

'With... with glasses?' he croaked, his throat suddenly bone dry. 'And blonde hair? Blue eyes?' And a smile that could melt Chaos Emeralds.

'I. Y-yeah. I-I think that was her. I- I'm _sorry_, I tried to go back, but it hurt and...' the student trailed off. 'Oh, man, I _left_ her in there, I—'

'Easy,' Knuckles said, in what he clearly hoped was a reassuring tone, but which came out sounding rather authoritarian. 'It's not your fault. You couldn't have expected this. We'll get her out of there.'

'In a damn... wheelchair...' the boy slurred. Or at least, it sounded to Chris as if he was slurring. Maybe that was just the blood he could feel rushing in his ears and the screeching sensation building in the back of his skull, blocking out the sounds of the world around him. 'And... and I _left_ her.'

'Oh, god,' Danny whispered, but that was all Chris could really hear of anyone's reaction but his own.

It was her.

It _had_ to be her. She always came to this library. Because it contained the recently established section on Inter-Reality Transportation Theory. Because this was the only library in the entire damn university which had a disabled parking bay out front instead of in some ironically awkward place round the back. Because _he_ was there, and could be at the door to greet her within two minutes flat if she only _called_ him.

Helen.

Chris had staggered to his feet and taken several steps backwards before he even truly realised he was moving.

'Master Emerald _damn it_,' Knuckles hissed, standing up and glaring at the wall of energy as if the sheer force of his frustration alone might shatter it. 'This is all we need. We have to get that Emerald piece down here and we have to do it now.'

'Oh-kay, Knuckles, I quit already,' Danny mumbled. 'What the hell is going on here and how do we make it to stop _eating_ our school?'

'I don't know. All I know it the Master Emerald's going _haywire_. If this is happening all over Station Square the way it is here, then who knows how many people could be hurt. We need to figure out how to stop it before... Chris what're you doing?'

'Getting a run up,' Chris answered simply, and Knuckles barely had time to realise what he meant before Chris was racing past him in the direction of the thick, grey light.

'Getting a run up for wha—? Oh for the love of Chaos, Chris, _no_!'

* * *

Some people just weren't meant to be still.

Including him, obviously. Sonic the hedgehog spent a good percentage of his life in motion. _Always_ in motion. A still world was one of either absolute boredom, or sleep, and he was rarely in the mood for either of those. Travelling at such high speeds also meant that it was more or less impossible for him to maintain any sense of time and space.

He did, however, get the feeling that he had been running forwards into this endless white and green burst of energy for far longer than he should have been. He was also pretty sure that portals weren't supposed to _work_ this way. Not that he'd experienced all that many of them, and most of those he _had_ experienced he hadn't ran into on_ purpose_. Wasn't there supposed to be a strange, tugging feeling accompanied by a vortex made of lots of swirling colours around about now? all that 

he could see ahead of him blackness. In fact, it wasn't even really _black_ either. Just a big, empty space without any light or shadows to hide from.

'_Huh. That's weird.' _

Eventually, Sonic stopped feeling as if he was going anywhere at all. The world itself seemed to grind to a halt and light and colour were replaced with pretty much... Nothing. Not dark, not light, just nothingness, exploding right in front of his eyes. It was nothing like any of the portals he'd ever been inside before have felt. It was nothing like the one that took them to Chris's world and back again.

Okay, though. He could work with it.

_**Who are you?'** _

Sonic only slowed down a little when he heard the voice speaking. Or maybe "speaking" was the wrong choice of word. After all, Sonic was pretty sure he was going faster than the speed of sound, even if it didn't look at way, so he shouldn't have been hearing _anything _at all. Maybe, rather than a sound, it was a _feeling. _Something deep down in his brain. 'Say what?'

**'Who are you?'** the voice (feeling... sensation... whatever) demanded a response.

Sonic found himself grinning. 'Who me? I'm just Sonic the Hedgehog. What's it to you?'

The silence lasted a few minutes longer. His feet continued pounding against the blankness all around him, a determined _something_ amidst the nothing.

**'_Interesting_,'** the sensation said again. Only it didn't _feel_ especially interested. '_**His thoughts knew all about you**.'_

'They did, huh?' Sonic said to himself, without bothering to wonder exactly who or what the presence was talking about. Heck, he'd been conversing with a pot plant earlier, so maybe he was just feeling kind of whimsical today: imagining voices and life where neither could exist.

Except that this _voicepresencesound_ was very persistent for something that wasn't really there.

'_**It believed you were fast**...' _The presence sounded unconvinced.

Sonic continued running against nothingness. Something in the back of his brain told him that stopping probably wouldn't be a very good idea. Better to run blindly into something than spend your lifetime waiting for nothing, right? It only now dawned on him to wonder where Tails and Amy and the Tornado had disappeared to. It was impossible for him to see anything here, except for his own body.

'Well whatever it was, it was probably right. There's no one around who's faster than me.'

'_**Really**?'_ The voice in his head sounded very amused by that. But there was something very cold and creeoy about it that sonic couldn't quite place his finger on. _'How **fast can you go, Sonic the hedgehog? And where is your speed taking you**?'_

'Good question,' Sonic thought, and despite the fact that he could have been talking to just about anyone or anything, he found himself grinning and pounding the ground which wasn't truly there ever harder. This presence sounded kind of like some kind of weird old creepy scientist. Like the ones that he'd met on Chris's world, who had wasted weeks of their lives trying to work him out by asking all of the wrong questions. 'Guess I haven't found out the answer yet.'

'_**The answer is important**.'_

'Maybe. Maybe not.'

The sensation trembled irritably, making the moving notground shift under his rapidly moving feet. It only now dawned on Sonic that whatever this presence was, it had to be moving pretty damn fast, or else the sound of its voice could never have kept up with him so easily. Or maybe he was just going a lot slower than he imagined he was. It was kind of hard to tell in here._ '**Simple, imperfect words from a simple, imperfect being. He runs. Nothing more.'**_

'Oh yeah?'Sonic felt his body twitching at high speed in a way it hadn't done since the last time he squared off against Shadow (now _that_ was a battle to write home about. Way more fun than all of this running through _deepnothingsilenceblankness_.) The tone of this thing's presence was making him uncomfortable. 'What is that? A threat or something?'

'**_You _are**_** fast, but not fast enough. You are unimportant. You should not be here. Leave**.'_

'Gladly. Just show me the way out already can't work out which way I came from.'

'_**You overestimate yourself**. **Don't you think**?' _

Sonic shrugged mentally. Whatever his crazy _voicethingsound_ was, he wasn't the least bit afraid of it. '...I dunno about that. Who cares? The important thing is to run.'

'_**He cares. Your speed will be the death of you all, somehow. I won't allow you to interfere, Sonic the Hedgehog**.' _

'Wha?' Sonic frowned. There was no answer.

A second later, the not-ground jolted, and there was a screeching, like the sound of a turbo engine as it sputtered and died. Like the Tornado travelling at hyper speed with a busted engine. Like something huge about to crash. And okay, so maybe that was just a little bit scary, because he had no idea where he was or what was happening and... Yeah. Creepy. And _painful_ too, screeching n his ears so loudly that it messed with his steps and made him stumble. Lucky there was nothing for him to fall into.

It took approximately fifteen seconds for this screeching booming, pounding sensation to stop and for the blackness to disappear and once again be replaced with light and movement and the sense that there really _was _something out there after all besides a deep, black nothing. For a person like Sonic, who lived at speeds far greater than most, those fifteen seconds were no different from saying "forever".

* * *


	9. Eight: Every Good Turn

**

* * *

**

Standard disclaimers of ownership apply. Here's hoping things aren't about to get complicated, because I haven't even gotten to the weird stuff yet... Reviews and concrit are, as ever, very much appreciated.

Eight. 

She granted herself a few minutes to scan the horizon before returning to where he stood at the edge of the forest. He didn't emerge to greet her. He was like that these days –always hanging around where most people would mistake him for a trick of their eyes or a shadow amongst the trees.

Well. Maybe they wouldn't be _entirely _wrong in thinking that Whatever. She was pretty much used to his nonchalance by now.

'Well?'

Rogue flexed her wings observing the woodland before her with a deceptively casual gaze. 'Well, for one thing maybe you had a point. Maybe this _is_ something to do with that other world. It spread out for a while from somewhere in the middle of the forest...' Right where that damned echidna was supposed to be, she added mentally while trying very hard not to feel too concerned about the fact. '...Then it stopped. I don't think it's planning on getting any bigger. You think it's the Master Emerald's doing?'

The dark shape paused, clearly thinking. 'Could be. There's Chaos Energy all over the forest... it's possibly a portal of some kind.'

'Well if that's a portal then it's not like any I've ever had the misfortune to get within half a mile of. Not that I see why it matters to you.'

She settled herself down atop a nearby rock, glancing back through the forest at the spiral of energy which was currently slicing the sky in half like a luminous column of diamonds. Just as it had been for going on half an hour now.

'...That's none of your affair, Rogue.'

'Now that's just plain rude,' Rogue smiled. 'I did you a favour, didn't I? It's not like _you_ could've gone up there to look. Not without Chaos Control anyway. Speaking of which, I have to wonder why you haven't already made your continued existence obvious to Sonic. If you want those Chaos Emeralds you're gonna have to confront him sooner or later.'

The figure huffed irritably, knowing full well what she was after; knowing full well that she _knew_ that he knew and simply didn't care too much about the potential consequences. 'The Chaos Emeralds aren't important right now. Get your priorities sorted and we'll discuss it further.'

Rogue shrugged lightly. 'You say that like I don't already know exactly where my priorities lie, handsome. Though I've got to say, as pretty as that thing over there is? I still preferred it when it was an oversized Emerald.' Not that there was honestly such thing as an _oversized_ jewel of any kind. 'So what do you think this is all about? Another daytrip to space?'

He offered her no reply. Lost in him own presumably deep and brooding thoughts again. Some people really had to learn to appreciate the finer things in life and not get so hung up about it all, 

Rogue thought. 'Whatever, you don't have to tell me I'll just figure it out myself anyway. I suppose you're going to go see what's happening for yourself now that I've given you a bat's eye view?'

There was movement amongst the trees, signalling that he had come closer. Were it not for her enhanced hearing, Rogue probably wouldn't have been able to pinpoint it. 'Something is happening. I need to find out what it is and whether or not it's connected to Chaos Control.'

'Ohhh, so this is about your personal quest for self-actualization again? Now, Shadow, didn't we have enough of all that out in space?'

'What this is about has nothing to do with you, Rogue,' the figure said, softly. 'I appreciate your help. But it's no longer required.'

'Of course not. You'll do the dirty work yourself, huh? Spare a good lady's name.' She paused long enough for him to grunt derisively or something, but he offered her no visible reaction. Some people were just so darn hard to read. 'Well, whatever. But you be careful out there Shadow,' she inserted just the right amount of sarcasm into her tone so that he could pick up on it. 'I'm sure you're true to your word of course, but you know it's not awfully polite to keep a lady waiting.'

The figure shifted knife like, from the darkness of the trees to the relative openness of the rocks and paused there, a solid black figure against the greyness of the rocks. His figure was couched and curled inwards, like something you didn't want to interfere with about to pounce. Rogue watched him with an experienced eye and didn't flinch at the sharpness of his movement. 'Stick around,' he muttered. 'When I get back, we'll... talk.'

'Sure we will,' Rogue smiled to herself, and then his outline vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

* * *

The first thing he heard –after the booming and the crashing and the whatever the heck that _voice_ was supposed to be back in the nothingness, that was– was Amy calling his name.

'Sonic?! _Sonic_!'

'..._Ow_.'

Or rather, make that Amy _screeching_ his name at the top of her voice. And she only lost her nerve like that when he had done something crazy, like jumped on the back of a killer robot, or leapt off a really tall building, or gotten himself knocked unconscious or...

Oh, right. Sonic blinked. And there above him was light and colour and movement. Wherever he was, at least he was out of that awful blank whateverness.

He barely had time to sit up before someone – no prizes for guessing who– was clinging to his neck for all they were worth. 'Oh, Sonic! If I've told you once I've told you a hundred times not to do crazy stuff like that, you always run into these things without thinking!'

'Nggh. Amy... _air_.'

'Oh, right!' Amy pulled away from him somewhat reluctantly with one of those weird; teeth gritted expressions on her face. 'Sorry! But like I said, you should really try to stop doing that so much.'

'Hey! It's not like I pass out _that_ often!'

'No, just apparently where gateways in time and space are involved.'

'Ngh...' Sonic blinked rapidly –faster than most people were capable of seeing, in fact– trying to shake off the headache building somewhere between his ears. Damn portals. 'Says you, I mean, you followed me right?'

'Yes, we did,' Amy sighed impatiently. 'And sometimes I really wonder why, Sonic. You honestly _do_ make me get involved with some crazy things.'

She didn't mean it. He could tell from the smile on her face. If there were any of her expressions that he had come to recognize, then it was the one she wore when she had already forgiven him for whatever "crazy stuff" he'd "ran into without thinking" this time. He glanced around to find Tails, kneeling nearby with an anxious look on his face, but seeming otherwise unhurt...

...And the X Tornado.

Well, what was _left_ of the X Tornado, anyway. Which to Sonic didn't look like all that much. The wings were buckled and bent from where it had crashed into the ground and ripped up the pavement, and the tail end was pretty much gone altogether.

'Whoa. Tails, buddy, the X Tornado looks more like an _Ex_ Torna_don't_.'

'Yeah,' Tails mumbled, unenthusiastically prodding the sad, buckled wing of his prized contraption. 'We clipped one of the skyscrapers on our way in and I sorta... lost control a little.'

'More like "lost control a _lot_,' Amy said, dryly. 'He's lucky we were able to make it down in one piece!'

'Well it didn't help that you were yelling at me all the time,' Tails muttered irritably, picking up what looked like a shredded part of the Tornado's hull. He sighed as it broke apart in his hands. 'You okay, Sonic? You were already here when we crashed. I figured you must've run all the way here from the gateway before... you know.' He didn't sound insanely worried, which suggested he already knew what the answer would be.

'Who, me?' Sonic frowned vaguely. Actually, he had no idea what he must've done to get here. He figured the portal must've just dropped them off in different places. If that was true, then heck only knew where Knuckles and Cream could be. 'I'm safe as houses. But you guys didn't by any chance hear something while we were in there, did you?'

'Like what?' Tails asked. 'There were pounding noises, the sound of the ground being ripped up under our feet, if that's what you mean... and then Amy yelled at me a little bit about not going the right direction. Not that there was any way we could know _which_ direction we were going in.'

'How about a creepy voice telling us to get out of there ASAP?'

Amy looked at him, blinking. So did Tails.

'Um,' Tails mumbled. 'Sonic... did you hit your head?'

'Hit my head?' Sonic grimaced, but then made himself relax again. 'Heh. Well, maybe, I guess. I mean it's not like there could _really_ be anything in there, right? That whole place... it wasn't darkness...'

'It just wasn't _anything_.' Tails finished. 'Except for _cold_. Even the outer space they have here has more to it than _that_ place did. There _couldn't_ have been a voice in there, Sonic. There was nothing there to _make_ one.'

'...Well... guess I must've imagined it,' Sonic said, still thinking that maybe he wasn't. It had seemed pretty real while he was in there. 'Sooo when you say _here_...'

Sonic looked up, finally becoming aware enough of his surroundings to work out exactly _what_ those surroundings were.

The skyscrapers Tails claimed to have almost crashed into were right there –not many of them and not the really tall ones like you found in Acorn City, or Metropolis. Each one was only about fifteen stories high or so, and from the look of it, they had "landed" in the middle of what looked like a downtown shopping plaza. Walls, big glass windowed stores, cafes, the works. All of them empty, without a living soul in sight.

Maybe the green light in the air high above them and the big, grey wall somewhere behind the buildings had something to do with that. It all seemed pretty normal from down here, provided you ignored the big, looming grey walls in the distance, but the atmosphere changed notable as he began looking upwards. The higher he looked, the greener the sky appeared to be, until the tips of the highest buildings were cast in light the colour of emeralds.

Sonic found himself shivering. 'Hey,' he muttered, 'this looks like...'

'I know, Tails finished evenly, in a tone that suggested he wasn't sure whether he should be happy or not. 'We're in Station Square, aren't we?'

'Albeit with some new decor,' Amy added. She gripped Sonic's arm and nudged him in the direction of the wall. 'What _is_ that?'

'No idea,' Sonic shrugged, deciding he'd just worry about it later, once they were absolutely sure that it was something dangerous to be taken care of. For now, it just looked darn creepy – like everything beyond it was nothing but a shadow that might not even be really there.

'Well, whatever it is, it's the thing that threw us off course when we landed,' Tails said, evenly, with disturbing composure for a guy who had just crashed a biplane in the middle of a shopping district in a world they really _weren't_ supposed to be in. 'I was swerving to avoid it when I hit the sky scraper.'

Amy sighed, standing upright, hands on her hips. 'Well, looks like that thing we just ran into really _was_ a portal to Chris's world, huh?'

'Not exactly,' Tails called, and both of them glanced in his direction. I think we just interfered with some kid of intergalactic network that's linking the two worlds together. It wasn't _meant_ to be a portal. It just... turned into one when we got sucked in.'

'But still, we're in Chris's world now, right? Sonic tried not to sound too hopeful about that –being in a place where they could cause all time to come to a grinding halt and bring about the end of the 

world just by existing wasn't exactly a _good_ thing, right?– but the optimism crept into his voice all the same.

'It... Sure looks that way,' Tails muttered, still fussing over the damaged X Tornado. He seemed to be avoiding peoples gazes, Sonic realises, which wasn't like _Tails_ at all, but now probably wasn't the time for asking about things like that.

'Wanna hand there, buddy?'

'Nah, it's okay. I think it's beyond fixing right now. If I had a workshop handy...' Tails looked up, glimpsed at him briefly, then looked away again. 'Just setting aside the big grey wall and the green lights for a second, if this is Station Square... then where are all the people?

'Good question, I'll let you know when I have an answer.' Sonic stood up and brushed himself off. 'You think Knuckles and Cream wound up here, too.'

'Yeah and maybe Chris is around,' Amy added. 'We should probably try and find them, right? I mean they could be anywhere...' She shivered. 'It's just like that cartoon I watched once on the international channel where everyone in an entire school just disappeared into some awful void... and then the principle turned out o be a ghost from another world... or maybe just a transparent alien who had come to eat all the people in town!'

Sonic blinked. 'Whoa... I never saw that one. How'd it end?'

'I don't know!' Amy squeaked. 'It was scaring Cream so we turned off the TV before we saw the ending. All of a sudden I'm wishing we hadn't.'

'I... don't think we should start worrying about voids right now, Amy,' Tails started. 'It was just a movie. And as we all wanna see the others, the X Tornado's busted and we can't just run around trying to...'

Sonic never did find out what they couldn't run around trying to do, because Tails sentence trailed off somewhere in the middle, the expression on his face changing from anxious to outright afraid.

'Tails? What is it?'

'G...Gerta,' Tails swallowed. 'I left Gerta back at the workshop in our world!'

'Gerta?' Sonic paused for a moment before remembering the small plant he had patted back in Tails workshop less than half an hour ago. 'You mean your plant? But that's still safe and sound back in our world, right?'

'Well couldn't you have brought her _with_ you?' Tails snapped and... Okay, _that_ was a little weird. Sonic backtracked several feet and Amy started blinking in confusion. 'Oh, man, couldn't _I_ have brought her with us! What the heck was I thinking just leaving her like that!?'

'Hey, take it easy,' Sonic started, and Tails reaction to this made him realise immediately that this was totally the wrong thing to say. Amy, for her part said absolutely nothing; merely stood there blinking. Sonic imagined that the two of them were probably wearing similarly confused expressions. 'I mean, she's not going anywhere, right?'

'I think that's exactly the problem, Sonic!' Tails snapped and... Was that sarcasm? Sonic was pretty sure that was sarcasm. From _Tails_, no less. Just when he'd thought today couldn't possibly get any weirder... 'Who's going to water her? And check her soil? And the humidity is terrible in that workshop during nights! I can't just leave a plant alone for days, she'll dry up, she's burn if the sun's too hot I... aw, man, I think I left her on an open window ledge!'

'...Uh. Actually, she was on the desk.'

'Well then if there's another tremor like the ones that came before she could fall off!' Tails yelled, his hands waving the way they did when he thought something nearby was about to explode. Sonic hadn't seen him this worked up in a long time. 'She's not safe on her own, I need to be there looking after her, in case anything happens!' He slapped a paw against his forehead. 'I'm such an idiot! I just... just rigged up the Tornado and started following you, I didn't even think about where we were going or how long we'd be away!'

Well, this was slightly confusing. Sonic scratched his head, trying desperately to work out exactly what Tails had just said to him and think of a decent answer. The two tailed fox looked seriously frazzled by the thought of that little plant being left alone back in their world.

'Hey, easy. It's not like we'll necessarily be here for long, right? We'll... get back to her.'

'Sonic's right, Tails,' Amy said. 'Worrying won't change anything.'

Tails opened and closed his mouth rapidly a few times, as if struggling to think of the right words to say. 'But... but she needs to be watered every day!'

'Then we'll just have to give her extra when we get back. I just watered her before we came out, remember? We've got loads of time.' Amy spoke very slowly and carefully. Sonic recognized the tone of voice. Amy used it usually when she was talking to Cream, or Cheese. Or even a couple of times when she'd been talking to...

Oh.

Oh. Yeah. Sonic remembered why Gerta was so important now. Actually, he felt like something of an idiot for _forgetting_ in the first place. Gerta was the seed he plucked out of the remains of Dark Oak. Cosmo's seed. There was no way of saying that Gerta was even a _normal_ plant.

'Listen, you were right before,' Amy went on. 'The Tornado's all broken up, and something really... _strange_ is happening here. So I think what we need to do is find someone we know. We need to track down Knuckles, and Cream. They're bound to be here somewhere. And maybe we can find Chris, too. You'll need some help putting the Tornado back together, right?' she smiled at him reassuringly in a way that made her seem so much more like someone else they used to know.

Well, whoever she sounded like, it had the desired effect on Tails, who stood himself upright, took a deep breath and gradually unclenched his fists. 'Yeah... you're right, Amy. I guess there's not much I can do about it now.'

'There then,' Amy stood back on her toes and smiled. 'So there's no need to go all hot headed on us.'

'Well that's weird; I always thought _you_ were the hothead of this group.' Tails smiled back. Some of the anxiety had gone from his eyes now, and Sonic could only watch as Tails slowly started smiling again; observe Amy doing something that Sonic knew he just wasn't all that good at: providing comfort and reassurance.

'Nah, that's just what I want you all to think. Adds to my air of allure and mystique. You know. It's a girl thing.'

'Oh, that's what it is,' Tails picked up another fragment of the battered X Tornado. 'It's not just an _Amy_ thing?'

'Well, maybe a little. Now come on, are we gonna get this show on the road again or what?'

'Yeah,' Sonic grinned, finally feeling comfortable with saying something now that the conversation was steering away from mushiness 'And we'll be back there before she even has time to lose a leaf, right?'

'Tails looked at him, not smiling, but seeming at least a little reassured. 'Right... Though I have no idea how we're gonna move the Tornado.'

'Maybe we should just leave it,' Sonic suggested. 'I mean it's not like there's anyone around to steal it...'

'Yeah, we should probably work on the whole Ghost Town thing, too,' Amy muttered, uneasily. 'Seeing all the streets empty like this... it's not normal. These places should be bustling. I remember going there once,' she pointed in the direction of a small cafe. 'And that there was where Ella took us shopping... Oh, Ella!' Amy squeaked, brightening massively. 'She'll still be here! Do you think she still works for the Thorndyke's? Will they still live in the same house?'

'Yeah, and Chuck!' Tails smiled broadly. 'He must be around, too. We might get to see them all again!'

'Yeah, if were lucky and they're here,' Sonic said, glancing around at the deserted streets.

'...Point,' Tails bit his lip. 'I mean, it looks as if the whole city's just been deserted. What if everyone left or something? We might not find them.'

'We will!' Amy said, grinning determinedly. 'One way or another, we won't rest until we track everybody down. And that goes for Cream and Knuckles too. Hey! I bet they're already on their way to the Thorndyke's place right now! That would be the first place any of us decided to go, wouldn't it?'

Sonic smiled. He could feel the atmosphere brightening significantly as their excitement built. He had to admit, as weird and strange as everything looked, this _was_ still Station Square. They were still back in a place that none of them had expected to ever _see_ again.

'_And that means Chris must be here. We'll get to see each other again. Like we promised. Like we always said we would. The worlds _did_ come together... Okay, so this isn't exactly the way we _hoped_ it would happen, but we can deal with that, right? We can deal with anything.' _

Still, Sonic couldn't help the nagging feeling eating away at his stomach. The grey wall still hung nearby them, the surface rippling in a way that looked worrying like water, for one thing. And if he gazed off in another direction, Sonic thought he could see another one in the distance. The sky overhead – a dull green in colour, seemed littered with tiny green stars and fragments of light. Sonic couldn't decide whether it was pretty or outright disturbing, and this confusion wasn't a sensation he liked.

Amy, however, didn't have such reservations. She reached out and grabbed his hand. 'Come on, Sonic, let's go look around and see if we can find anyone here. Maybe we'll even see that cute little restaurant that used to be here. It'd be neat to go take a look, don't you think, come on!' and without bothering to find out whether or not _he_ thought it would be a good idea, she started dragging him along with her, with Tails following close behind them smiling rather oddly as they headed towards a high street.

* * *

Knuckles wasn't sure what it was about the last six years which had made that kid so damned impulsive, but he already knew that it was going to be the death of them.

He hadn't been fast enough to grab Chris as he passed by, and Francis nearly lost her hand trying to pull him back herself. By the time either of them realised what had happened, there was a body shaped gash in the wall of energy surrounding the campus, and Chris had vanished into the deep, grey light. 'Chris, damn it!' Knuckles yelled. Obviously there was no reply. Knuckles had already deduced that no sound could escape from beyond the wall, and from looking at the frightened student still lying on the ground, getting out of it alive was no mean feat. Knuckles grit his teeth, drawing back from the wall, fists raised as if to punch it, while knowing that would have no effect. 'The heck is he...'

'I don't understand...' Cream squeaked, growing more and more anxious by the second. 'What's happening in there? How can he get out if...?'

'I have no idea, but we have to try and help them somehow, standing around asking questions won't help!' Knuckles said. Cream flinched away slightly and he realised he probably sounded kind of intimidating, but he could apologise for it later. Right now they had bigger fish to fry. Or Chaos to Control. Whatever.

'But... why did he run in like that?'

'Because Helen is in there,' Francis whispered. 'That's all the reason he needs, Cream. That's all he wants...'

Knuckles glanced upwards, glaring into the light overhead. The light which had always listened to him before. The power which had always came when he had need of it. That had given all he ever asked of it, willing and with rare resistance, now turning against him. Turning this very _world _into something that killed. It made no sense. It had no _purpose_.

And now Chris was in there. And Helen. No way. To heck with that. He wouldn't allow anyone else to be hurt by the power _he_ was supposed to control.

Of course at times like this where punching your problems wasn't an acceptable way of solving them, there was really only one thing Knuckles could do.

'Listen to me!' he yelled at the sky. 'The seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers! Chaos is the power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the Chaos! I am the controller! You _trust_ me! Please, bring down that which you have created! Destroy this that is devouring the world. Master Emerald! End it!'

Nothing. The green light in the sky remained unflinching and unchanged. He couldn't even feel a tremble in his veins to show that it was listening to him. 'Chaos damn it...' Knuckles hissed. 'Why won't you listen?'

'Uh, Knuckles, as dramatic as that sounds I don't think it's doing us much good!' Danny yelled.

'But Danny...' Francis breathed, pointing sharply into the grey light, still kneeling by the fallen student who continued to stare down into the ground, as if unable –or unwilling– to look up. '...Knuckles, look!'

Knuckles did.

The Emerald shard above him wasn't responding, but something within the grey wall _was_. Something was changing, revealing a shard of colour glowing amidst the shadows. Green light. Movement. Inexplicable, but there, nonetheless. Knuckles felt the familiar tremble of Chaos Energy inside of him. Somewhere, some small fragment of Chaos was responding to him in a way the rest of the Master Emerald refused to.

'_...Chris?'_

* * *

It was like being in two different worlds.

One world was bright and green and touched with movement, and the other was dark and cold and made out of solidifying time. He had just stepped out of one world and thrown himself into the second. And it _hurt_. Every nerve ending seemed to flare with pain, as if something were being dragged out from deep inside of him. Chris recalled a similar sensation in space, when Dark Oak had begun drawing out the energy of every flesh and blood creature in the galaxy. Every second he was trapped within this world his body longed to return to the other.

He stood still for what felt like forever, afraid to so much as blink; afraid that the pain and energy draining out of him might rip his body apart if he moved. When he staggered, he did so in slow motion. Every breath went in too slowly for his lungs to cope with.

It was impossible for Chris to make out where he was from sight alone in here. Trying to observe his surroundings was like trying to watch the world flying by outside of the window during one of his Uncle Sam's speed drives. Except that everything in here was stock _still_, it was just impossible for him to focus on any of it. His eyes kept being forced aside, his vision skidding off objects surfaces and refusing to allow him to focus.

He could still see one thing, though: something which had appeared not long after the grey wall touched him. The faint, glowing green outline of his own body. Just like the light which had surrounded him in the nothing of the dream. He tried to glance backwards over his shoulder, but it was impossible to make anything out anymore. He couldn't _see_ Knuckles or Danny or Francis on the other side of the wall. He could only feel their presence.

'_Chris!'_

'_...Knuckles?'_

There was no doubting it. That was Knuckles voice. Chris could hear him, talking right into his head.

'_Chris_?' Knuckles seemed... confused. Bewildered, even. And the sensation of his tone was undoubtedly angry. '_Don't hesitate. Chaos is protecting you.' _

'_Knuckles...? How...?'_

'_We'll work it out later. Keep moving!'_

'_I... can't.'_

'_You don't have any say in the matter!_' Knuckles presence screamed in his mind. _'You have to do it. Remember Helen!'_

Helen.

Of course. That was why he was in here, wasn't it? That was why...

And this wall... this awful sensation draining everything away from them. It could've already killed her by now, just as it was killing him. _'Helen... no.'_

'_You got yourself into this mess, Chris,' _Knuckles went on._ 'Now get yourself out of it. Finish what you started! Chaos can only protect those who are willing to accept it!' _

'_Chaos is the power strengthened by the heart_,' Chris thought, desperately. And just thinking the words had exactly the same effect it had in his final semester Mechanics paper last year: the sensation of muscles relaxing and tension easing in the back of his mind. He tried to focus on the words as he remembered them. That funny old chant which was so much better to focus on than the pain.

He couldn't see clearly, but he could still _feel_, and his hand reached out and suddenly gripped something that felt exactly like the spokes of a wheel. His chest still ached, but the pain from before had otherwise all but vanished.

Chris kept his eyes tightly closed, gradually shifting his hand, using the object as a leverage until he found something that felt like a hand and gripped it tightly. _'Helen...' _

He wasn't entirely sure whether it was his imagination or not, but he could've sworn than the fingers he was holding onto wrapped around his own.

* * *


	10. Nine: No News Is Bad News

**

* * *

**

So has anyone reading this noticed that I appear to have an obsession with certain words? I hope not. It'll spoil the surprise.

**Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and constructive criticism are both appreciated. **

* * *

Nine: No News is Bad News.

Station Square.

Damn.

Sonic hadn't thought he would ever get to see _this_ place again.

Even baring in mind the fact that the sky over their heads was shining the same, bright colour as the Master Emerald. And knowing that they were being locked in by walls that didn't look like they'd respond well to someone trying to bash through them.And that every street was just as deserted as the high school in the horror movie Amy had been talking about, it was still kind of hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere. Because... Man, they were actually in _Station Square_ . If nothing else, they were sure to get a warm welcome (as soon as they found some people), right?

Sonic would've probably run a few dozen laps around the high street just to check he was really _here_, but Amy had latched onto his arm some time ago and was dragging him along with her across the plaza, pointing at random things along the way and seeming reluctant to let him go.

'It looks just like I remember,' she sighed. 'All of it, Sonic, absolutely all of it! Well, except for the sky and the weirdness and the fact that there are no people around.'

'And the creepy grey walls towering over the plaza,' Tails added nervously, trailing along just behind them and gazing at the streets with somewhat less enthusiasm than Amy. 'Let's not forget about those, Amy.'

'How could we _forget_ about them, Tails? They're ginormous ,' Amy didn't sound as concerned by the walls as she had been half an hour ago. 'I figure if they were going to do anything weirder, or if time was going to freeze around us or something then it probably would've happened by now, right? We're okay. Besides,' she squeezed Sonic's arm a little tighter, smiling. '_Sonic's_ with us.'

'Yeah, he's with ya, and he's losing the circulation in his arm,' Sonic muttered irritably, but he let her keep dragging him along anyway. He'd just had Tails losing it on him about a _plant_ of all things a few minutes ago; the last thing he wanted was to make Amy blow a fuse, too. Everyone was being so _weird _lately_, _what with Knuckles being so cryptic earlier, and Tails hardly speaking to him, except to answer questions or to comment about something technical and Amy being...

Well, okay, so Amy was acting the same way she always did.

'Look; I'm sure been there once before with Ella and Cream...' Amy smiled distractedly, pointing at one of the nearby stores. 'They used to have the _cutest_ dresses! And there, too. And there and...' She stopped dead, pulling Sonic to a halt as she did so. 'Okay, _that_ I've never seen before.'

'Huh? What?' Sonic glanced around in search of what Amy was talking about, expecting to see another cafe or something.

Tails coughed. 'Ah... Take a look to your left, Sonic.'

Sonic did.

Whatever he was looking at, it stood at roughly six feet tall and eight feed wide in the middle of a stone circle. The gold and silver surface glistened in the green light overhead, with stone underlay beneath it. Sonic really couldn't think of any practical use for the thing.

'Okay, I give, guys. What the heck is that?'

'I think it's a figurative depiction of something going really fast,' Tails said. 'That bunch of twisted metal there is probably supposed to represent the sound barrier breaking. You know. Symbolically.'

'...Oh, right. I knew that,' Sonic said, though he really didn't. He reached out and patted the stone . 'So what's that weird, gold, sticky-up thing that looks like a pincushion?'

Amy giggled. 'I think that's supposed to be _you_, Sonic.'

Sonic blinked, looked up at the statue, back at Amy, then up at the statue again. 'Whu—? No way. Looks nothing like me.'

'Yes way,' Tails said, leaning close to the plaque. 'It says right here: "_Dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog, in respect of his heroic endeavours during Station Square's times of great need_"... It's a memorial!'

'Wow,' Amy sounded half impressed and half amused. 'A real statue, complete with corny monologue. They must've built it for you after we went home, Sonic.'

'Hey, don't get me wrong, I appreciate a thank you as much as the next guy, but I would've been happier if they'd just bought me a hot dog, or something. This makes me look like a porcupine!'

'Actually, I'd say it looks more like Knuckles when you give him a bad scare,' Amy said thoughtfully. She took a step closer, peering at the statue. 'But you know, I _think_ I can see you in there, a little.'

'You kidding? If I look even remotely anything like that then I'll eat my running shoes.'

Not that he wasn't flattered – he really was, in a weird kind of way – but seriously, it wasn't even _blue_. How could it possibly be him if it wasn't even blue?

'Guess you've been missed,' Tails said, smiling faintly.

Onic shuffled uneasily. Thank you was one thing, but a _status_, too? 'Yeah, maybe a little too much.'

'You should be happy,' Tails shrugged, running his fingertips over the plaque. 'Not everyone who saves the world gets a statue, you know.'

Sonic was about to enquire into this train of thought, but his ears caught the sound of something more interesting before he had a chance. 'You hear that?'

'Hear what?' Amy looked around. 'It didn't sound like a creepy other-dimensional ghost, does it?'

'Nah, more like someone crying,' Sonic muttered. Yeah, that was it. Now that he listened closer, he could even tell how old the person was. 'It's a kid somewhere...'

Now _that_ was more like it. Okay, so the crying wasn't a good thing, but at least this meant they weren't alone after all. Sonic listened for a moment longer before shooting off in what he figured was the right direction, Amy and Tails bringing up the rear as he dodged between still familiar streets, the sound of tears getting louder every second, and the walls of grey energy overhead seeming closer and more imposing.

They found the kid crouched between garbage cans near the back of the plaza. She looked young. A lot younger than Cream, her eyes screwed up tight and pigtails hanging over her face. Or at least, that was how she looked until Sonic learned over and patted her on the shoulder. 'Hey there, little fella, what'cha doin' here all alone? You lost?'

The child looked up, brown eyes blinking at the strange, blue creature overhead. For a second, her teary eyes widened, then she took a deep breath and started crying again, loud enough to damn near hurt his eardrums. 'Ach! Hey, hey, it's alright, I didn't mean to... cut it out!'

'Ouch,' Tails winced. 'She's got a good pair of lungs.'

'Yeah, and for the record she _is_ a _she_, Sonic,' Amy said, wincing. ''Not a "little fella". More like a little lady.' She smiled. 'Step aside, _this_ one needs a woman's touch. Now, little girl, what's the problem here?' She patted the kid on the shoulder and smiled. 'Hey little girl, what's wrong?'

The girl stopped crying, staring wide eyed at this pink stranger. 'I know, you're... missing your nose! See! I've got it right here, we just have to pop it right back on.' Amy pulled some kind of trick with her fingers, as if making out the kid's nose had come away in her fingers. Even though hers were white and didn't really look anything like the kid's –still very much attached. Sonic had no idea how anyone would ever fall for _that_– nose did, the child seemed to half smile all the same.

'Dunno where she learned to do that,' Tails observed. Sonic said nothing. Just kept watching as the kid's steady stream of tears became a sniffle. 'There now, see? It's all right. Well, if it's not your nose, then you much have lost your parents, right? No problem. I bet they're around here somewhere; we just have to find them. Let's get you away from this nasty big wall, what do you say, honey?' Amy smiled, using almost the same voice she had with Tails earlier. Sonic wondered if Tails noticed that, and whether it bugged him. It wasn't like Amy to fuss over them (actually, it wasn't like Amy to fuss over a kid). Tails expression, however, revealed nothing.

By this point, Amy was kneeling in front of the child, who seemed to scrutinize her trying to work out what she was. Chris has said once that six years had passed on earth in comparison to theirs. Sonic wasn't that sure if a year here was the same as in their world, but this girl was probably too young to know who any of them were, anyway. (_'She probably thinks the statue looks freaky, too...'_).

'See?' Amy looked at Sonic proudly. 'The feminine touch works every time. Can't believe I ever thought these cute little things wer_yeouch_! Hey, get _off_ that, owww!'

The child laughed, one small hand wrapped around Amy's fringe and pulling for all it was worth. Sonic bit his tongue to avoid laughing. 'Yeah, Amy,' he grinned. 'Your touch works totally fine. I'm leaving the kids to you from now on.'

Tails smiled. 'I think she likes you Amy.'

Amy winced. 'Ow, ow, ow! Y-yeah. G-great, she's stopped crying; now get her _off_ of me already!'

'Hey there, what do you think you're doing?!'

Sonic looked up, distracted from Amy as she prised the girl's hand off her hair. A human in a police officer's uniform was heading towards them across the plaza. He was probably middle aged and had the look on his face of someone who'd been doing far too much running around for a man of his age. 'What the heck're you kids doing here?' he gasped. 'Darn it, this is an _evacuation_, where are your...' he trailed off.

He looked familiar, Sonic thought. Like they'd maybe seen him once before a long time ago, another face in a crowd with barely enough features to make him stand out.

'Uh, hey there,' Sonic gave the small child a nudge in the officer's direction, patting her on the back as he did so. 'Does this belong to you? We found her near the cans there but I'm pretty sure she's not garbage. I think she must've lost her mom.'

For a moment, the officer said nothing. His jaw was slack and his eyes were wide, and when he eventually spoke, it was in a broken, out of breath voice. 'So... So... Sonic the...? It's really... my god. It's you, isn't it? It's actually... the statue... you... it's...'

He seemed to be having trouble talking, and Sonic wasn't sure if it was because the guy was unhealthy or just so surprised to see them that he couldn't make his words come out straight. Either way, he saved the guy from having to finish a sentence he was obviously struggling with.

'Yeah, that's me alright,' he grinned, offering a thumbs up. 'Uh. Kid's not ours, though, you can have her back.'

Amy coughed meaningfully, nudging him in the side. 'Sonic,' she hissed.

'Wha—? Oh, yeah, uh... Thanks for the statue? Even if it is the wrong colour and looks more like a porcupine.'

'Not _that_.' Amy groaned impatiently, taking matters into her own hands. She picked up the small child (keeping her a safe distance away from her hair) and held her out to the still shell shocked officer, who took her into his arms without protest. 'Excuse me, sir? Yeah, we were wondering if you could spare a minute to let us know what the heck is going on here, exactly. Only we were dumped here by a bright light, and pretty much nobody was here, so...'

'If I could tell you, I would, miss,' The Officer lifted his cap to wipe his brow. The small child, suitably distracted from her tears, reached out and grabbed it before he could put it back. 'Hey, easy there... Thing is, the walls just started coming down in some kind... I don't know. It was like a pattern. All of us on this side were okay, but as for the people inside the grey...'

Sonic blinked. 'Wait, you're telling us that there're people stuck inside of that thing?'

'Hundreds, maybe thousands of them,' suddenly the reason for the Officer's breathlessness seemed to be something quite different to just a lack of health. He seemed really freaked out. 'They're all in there and we have no idea what's happening... cars and vehicles have been cut in part, phone lines are dead... it's like something out of that movie...'

'The one where the high school students get eaten by a ghost from another reality?' Amy squeaked.

'Yeah, that's the one! I tell ya, that had me spooked out for _weeks_.'

'Me too! Isn't it just _awful_ when they start coming through the walls and-'

'Um, guys, I don't think this is the time for talking movies even if it _is_ starting to feel as if we're in one.' Tails said. 'You should probably take a look at this.'

'Hang on a sec, Tails,' Sonic said, distractedly, still looking at the officer. 'So you mean this is happening everywhere? Not just this one place? It's all over Station Square?'

'Um... Sonic?'

'All over Station square and maybe all over everywhere else,' the officer went on, holding onto the squirming child. 'Started with these funny green lights everywhere. Like stars, only brighter. Next thing we know...' He clinked his fingers. 'Kapow! The world's breaking up like a jigsaw. I don't know why or how you're here, Sonic, but we could use your help.'

Little green lights. Yeah. Sonic was betting money he already knew what _those_ were all about.

'Sonic, I'm serious, you should probably...'

'Hold on a sec, Tails, don't you wanna help them out here? This is _Station Square_; we can't just sit around and let this... this _whatever_ it is go ahead and—'

'I _know_ that, Sonic, will you turn around already?!' Tails snapped. And this time, he sounded urgent enough for Sonic to pay attention. He turned to face the deep grey wall, partly hidden behind the nearby buildings, figuring that whatever Tails was yelling about, it would be somewhere in that direction. It was.

The watery sheen on its surface had changed both shape and colour, pushing outwards, like a sprouting seed or some kind of giant bubble. Bubbling and then bursting. The surface looked like liquid, but it shattered just like glass. The light overhead was changing too, shades of dark green creeping down throughout the translucent walls, like veins.

The small child in the officer's arm reached out a hand towards the wall, her eyes dry and tearless. 'Lights,' she said, quietly.

Something echoed in Sonic's head. _**'You are unimportant and should not be.' **_

'Uh. Tails? About that little voice I said I heard befor—'

He didn't have time to finish the sentence. Which was weird, because Sonic usually had time for pretty much anything. Something dark split from within the surface of the grey wall, the air seemed to scream and whatever it was crash landed atop a nearby store, shattering the roof inwards and breaking the windows of several buildings going on the street. The child started to cry again. Amy yelped; hammer materialising in her hand, seemingly on impulse. 'What the...'

'Something's coming out of there!' Tails yelled, and nobody could find their tongue in order to tell him "_duh_". Whatever it was, it was already here, and from the looks of the other bubbles bursting across the walls surface, it wasn't going to be alone for long.

'_**Should not be. Get out. Get **_**out.**_**' **_

The officer staggered backwards, child clutched in his arms, alarm written all over his face. Sonic twisted back and looked at him. 'Run.' He said.

The officer didn't have to be told twice.

* * *

It had been a while since the Channel Three News Crew in Station Square had seen so much excitement.

This wasn't, however, the kind of excitement that Scarlet Garcia had had in mind. After Franklin's mysterious resignation from the department six years ago Scarlet had been quickly promoted to the head of the Station Report Crew, and this new job had offered her a nice, big pay check with one hand and a boring desk job with the other. She had to admit, she missed her days on the street. At least when you were out there you had a better idea of what was going on.

Now with one of their main reporters off sick and no one really needed in the main office, Scarlet had been hoping she might get a chance to cover the Big Race down at the Public Track, or scoop the details on the most recent scandal from the mayor's office, or cover the rescue of the president's cat from the roof of the Whitehouse... _Anything_, so long as it didn't involve sitting behind a desk all day.

But a city-wide panic with the whole of Station Square being literally cut apart and sealed in by walls of energy that seemingly nothing could break though? People all over town being trapped within shields of god-only-knew-what and every phone in the Studio ringing, with no voices on the end whenever someone picked one up? Yeah. All of a sudden, Scarlet was thinking that another day behind a desk of paperwork might not have been so bad after all.

'I'm counting six of them so far... no seven! There's another one of them gone down over the University Campus.'

'Cancel that. I'm counting two over in that direction, the copter is sending back data on another cutting right through the middle of the Shopping District...'

'There's another over the Railway system. I think we can probably stop counting, man, they're _everywhere_.'

'Are we getting _anything_ from our mobile ground sources?' Scarlet turned in frustration to the rest of the news crew, focussing her attention on the nearest Phone Operator. Surely someone had found a way to get a message back which _didn't_ involve using a telephone.

'Not so far, mam,' the woman answered, confusion written all over her usually professional face. She was staring at the phone in front of her on the desk as if it were a foreign object. 'The phones are ringing but whenever we pick them up we don't _hear_ anything from the other end. It's like we're being prank called by ghosts, or something.'

'Let's not get overdramatic, Cynthia,' Scarlet sighed, trying desperately to neaten her hairdo. Damn these last minute emergencies. She'd barely had time to fix her make up (so much for her morning off) grab her microphone and head downtown before the panic started. If the Boss of _her_ Boss had tried to call her just ten minutes later than he had, the call probably wouldn't have even gotten through at all, because by that point, the shields of whatever-it-was had come down all over the city, and communications all over Station square had gone haywire.

Scarlet shook herself, realising that her hairdo was honestly the least of her worries right now and focussing on the task in hand. 'Okay, people, listen up,' she snapped at the room in the tone of voice she usually reserved for addressing unruly football players before a big match. 'We're supported to be a professional news team, so let's start acting like it. I want to know what's happening, where it's going down and _why_, and I'll go back on the streets with my own dusty microphone if I have to.'

'We're trying, miss, but we're dependant on the phone and internet connections, if they're down so is the rest of the Station.'

Scarlet sighed. No. This _definitely_ wasn't what she'd had in mind.

She wasn't sure what had happened precisely –no one was, since nobody could get phone calls through to _tell_ anyone else and all the news crew had to go on was the occasional message being sent down by helicopter– but she knew that the City hadn't seen anything this big since the last time they were attacked by a monster_ a la_ Godzilla and a gargantuan flood.

'Um, mam, there's another message being sent down from the copter!' Someone yelled from a reporting desk at the back of the room. 'Nother big grey shield keeping everyone out on the Highway heading out of town.'

'Well that cuts off that route of assistance,' Scarlet muttered, biting her bottom lip. 'What about the emergency teams? Don't we have scouts at the Police Station? The Fire Services?'

'Well it seems they've managed to get a couple of Emergency Fallout Stations active over in the centre city, Miss Garcia,' Another reporter called, but most people are flying blind anyway, there's no way to tell people where to go.'

It had been less than half an hour since the Crisis began and it already seemed as if the news crews were mobilising a lot faster than the emergency crews were. Which was a shame, seeing as the television broadcasting system was no longer operating in several areas anyway, and Scarlet was beginning to think that right now, the people in Station Square needed support and assistance as opposed to more air time.

'Well... we're a reporting crew, right?' She smiled, vaguely. 'So let's get out there and report for Crisis-Strategy already.'

'But... Scarlet are you sure? Don't you think we should maybe cover the power stations, or...'

'Trust me, Cynthia. A pro always trusts their sources. And my _favourite_ source just happens to reside in the local police force.'

* * *

Chris winced.

That was the first sensation he had of movement again –a sharp jolt of pain travelling right through his body like a knife, before fading back into that same, dull ache over the left side of his chest. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened in the time between their emerging from the entrance of the campus building and his sitting here on the floor, but he had a feeling that whatever it was, it hadn't exactly been pretty.

He could also feel someone's hands gripping his shoulders, and hear a voice which sounded as if it probably belonged to Knuckles, but he couldn't be entirely sure. He thought he was probably still half conscious, but honestly can't find it in himself to care. All he cares about is the feeling of the hand he's clutching in his own.

'Chaos be damned... you actually did it, didn't you? You actually...' One of the hands on his shoulder shifted to his face, patting it. 'Hey! Look at me, Chris. Say something.'

Like _what_? Chris thought irritably, and the only thing he could actually come out with was: 'Um... ow?'

'Yeah that's turning into one of your favourite phrases today, isn't it, buddy?' Danny's voice, a mixture of relief and "oh my god you did it"-type amazement.

Chris opened his eyes and only now could he work out where the heck he was: On his hands and knees, with Knuckles arms gripping his shoulders – he'd apparently been keeping him upright until now – and with trails of what seemed to be grey mist glittering on his fingertips. Like he'd ripped right into...

Oh. Yeah. Chris turned his head as carefully as he could to avoid stumbling. The muscles in his neck felt old and tired, as if they'd been held tense for far too long. The wall still stood before them, cold and dark, now with strange green lights drifting vein like through its surface. He could've '...Knuckles?'

'Who were you expecting? Eggman?' Knuckles shrugged off the boy's confusion. 'Are you _insane_, Chris? That's an energy draining shield not a paper wall, you can't just—'

'Run into it like something outta that movie with the aliens in the high school?' Danny's voice said. Chris felt a thump on his back and tried not to wince at the pain the action sent shuddering down the muscles of his arms. 'I think he just _did_, Knuckles. And that? Was _seriously_ cool, Chris! Can you do it again?'

'That's hardly appropriate!' Knuckles snapped. 'We have no idea how that worked!' he looked up. 'Maybe since you came in from this side, maybe it protected you, but whatever it was it was a damn stupid thing to do.'

'Hey,' Danny said, defensively, hand still planted on Chris' back (Chris was fairly sure that he was on his side, but it was hard to tell). 'What he just did was _awesome_. I bet if it was someone you lo... I... I'm mean I bet if you gave a damn about someone that much, you'd run into that thing, too!'

'Well I'm on the echidna's side here,' Francis snapped. 'And I repeat on his behalf, Chris, what the heck were you _thinking_?'

'You know Chris, Francis,' someone croaked, quietly. 'He probably wasn't thinking much at all. Personally, I think he got it all from spending too much time around Sonic.'

Chris blinked, forcing his vision to clear up seemingly with sheer will power. 'Helen...?'

Helen. Lying on her back besides him, legs turned unnaturally inward, and with a weak smile on her face. _Alive_. She looked at him with Chaos-Emerald-melting eyes, and all of a sudden things didn't seem quite as bad as they had been a moment ago.

'Um... hi there.' Just as awkward and embarrassing, sure, but not as bad.

'You forgot my chair.'

'...Oh. Sorry?'

'That's okay your grandpa can always make me a new one,' Helen smiled. If Chris didn't know better he would've sworn she was teasing him.

Actually, wait, he _didn't_ know any better. '...How're things up on floor six?'

Chris opened his mouth to say 'better now that you're here' but the words died on his tongue. 'We... Helen, we need to...'

'Talk?' Helen finished. 'I know. Later?'

'Right. Later.' Chris took a deep breath, fairly sure that he could handle waiting a few more minutes. Sure he could. Right now they had bigger things to deal.

'Chris, can you stand?'Knuckles asked; interrupting the moment before it could possibly get any more awkward. Chris didn't respond. He just did what Knuckles asked, wobbling only slightly and clutching Helen's hand for as long as he could. Knuckles lead him across the pavement and it was all Chris could do to follow him.

Cream was sat nearby, her eyes slightly teary as she looked up at Chris with a confused smile. She seemed to have been talking to the boy, who was still lying on the pavement. His face was twisted in pain but now he was looking up at Chris in what seemed to be semi-awe. He looked at him, Chris realised after a haunting moment, just the way that he had often seen people look at Sonic.

'Man,' he whispered. 'You... you're totally insane, kid, you know that?'

'I'm... starting to get a rough idea of it, yeah,' Chris murmured. 'I'm not planning to make this a habit.'

'Damn right you're not,' Knuckles muttered, giving Chris a nudge and nodding in the boy's direction. 'Touch him.'

Chris blinked. 'But... you said not to—'

'I've changed my mind,' Knuckles said impatiently. 'Touch his legs, where he was trapped in the shield.

Chris glimpsed at the boy, who managed a half shrug with his shoulders. Chris saw that as an invitation. He knelt down slowly and reached out a hand. The boy winced slightly at the light contact, but asides from that, nothing much seemed to happen. Chris pulled away slowly and turned to face a still silent Knuckles. 'Nothing... happened.'

'I know,' Knuckles said, still gazing at Chris as if he were some kind of unfathomable puzzle. 'But still...None of that decomposition has happened to Helen. And she was right _within_ the shield before you pulled her out.'

He looked up at the sky, and Chris stayed silent, feeling a shudder running down his spine. 'What's going on here, kid?' Knuckles sighed, in a tone which suggested he knew damn well that Chris wouldn't have an answer handy. 'What've we been pulled into?'

'When we have an answer we'll let you know,' a voice called. Chris looked up to see Miss Armstrong, striding urgently back towards them. The look on her face was one of determination mixed with anxiety and a little impatience thrown in for good measure. Still, Chris didn't get the feeling she'd seen anything else. 'In the meantime, maybe _you_ kids have a few answers for us.'

She paused at Helen, offering the girl a smile. Then she walked straight past Knuckles without so much as glimpsing his way, and seemed to deliberately avoid Cream's gaze as she knelt beside the boy, putting a hand comfortingly on his back. 'It'll be alright,' she said, seeming to be trying to reassure herself as much as anyone. 'We'll get you moved round the front. There's an emergency station there and we'll be receiving medical aid.' The boy nodded vaguely, still glimpsing uncertainly at Chris. '

'You know, it doesn't... hurt so much anymore,' he muttered quietly. 'Think... think I can take moving, a little.'

'Miss Armstrong,' Francis coughed. 'Did... you call an ambulance?'

'I tried,' Alisa looked at her. 'But none of my calls are getting through. So far as I can tell everyone should follow the standard emergency procedure. We're heading for the nearest one right now. You're coming with us, by the way,' she said.

Knuckles gave her a cold look which reminded Chris of his fights with Sonic back on the old days. He swallowed. 'Miss Armstrong... the thing is, I think we need to find our friends—'

'You might be older than you look, Christopher,' Alisa interrupted. 'But I'm still the authority figure here. And you're all coming round the front with me right now. I know some people who I'm sure would like to speak with you, as soon as I can make contact with them.'

Cream looked at him uneasily. Chris didn't blame her. He didn't much like the sound of that, either.

* * *


	11. Ten: Like a Hole in the Head

**Got really annoyed with this chapter because, quite frankly, I found trying to describe these new monsters just the way I wanted to be extraordinarily difficult with Sonic's voice. I think I lost his personality a bit. See? There I go breaking one of the main rules of writing: never broadcast your weaknesses. Ah, well... **

**Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit are appreciated. **

* * *

Ten.

When the _creaturemonsterwhatever_ first emerged from the gap it had created in the huge grey wall–smashing the windows of half the buildings around them in the process– Sonic couldn't be all that sure exactly what it was.

His first thought was that it had to be one of Eggman's freaky robot henchmen. It was at least as big as they usually were, and looked as if it would cause the same kind of damage when it decided to attack. But Eggman's robots usually also looked exactly like that: Robots. Big, clunking metal heads, cannons for arms, wires coming out of their joints, the whole deal...

_This_ thing didn't look much like that at all. In fact, it didn't look like anything _alive,_ though it undoubtedly was. It seemed to have been pieced together from a bunch of random elements. Like a monster made out of plant, stone, steel and flesh. Its metal head reared up from a stone and skin neck, its legs (there were six of them that Sonic could see, and maybe more that he couldn't) were bent and twisted in funny directions, supporting a thick, tree-trunk-like body that seemed much too big and heavy for them. They held up all the same; creaking under the heavy weight.

Amy wrinkled up her nose. 'Oh-kaaay...' She gulped. 'Now that's weird.'

'Sonic, your rings,' Tails blurted out. 'I didn't _bring_ any. They're back in the Tornado!'

Sonic shrugged, trying not to let on how much this revelation bothered him. 'No problem, buddy, I can handle this alone.' He'd use Chaos Control if he had to, he thought. But only _if_.

'Who says you're handling _anything_ alone?' Amy asked, swinging her hammer back in preparation. 'No way am I letting that thing rain on our parade!'

The creature pulled the last few folds of its wings (they _were_ wings, right? Giant, creepy dragonfly wings made out of glass and stretched skin... What else could they be?) away from the wall with a sickening slurp, bringing a mess of shredded metal and roots with them. Gross, sure, but it was the head which disturbed Sonic most of all. All those sharp angles and curves and the way it looked just like...

'Like... a Metarex robot,' he finished out loud. Right beside him, Tails flinched as if in physical pain.

'Y-yeah,' he swallowed. 'That was what I was thinking, too.'

'Oh. Wonderful,' Amy said dryly. 'Just _perfect_. This is all we need, another... Dark-Oak-Repzilla-Ghost-Beast Wannabe.'

'Another Repzilla-ghost-_what now_?'

'Movie reference.'

'Oh.' Sonic grinned while gearing up for a run. 'You know, Ames, I'm starting to think you watch too many movies.'

'Could be,' Amy said, before sending her hammer flying into the creature's side. It saw her coming though; sent the weapon flying back in her direction as easily as if it were a toothpick and spread its strange wings, smashing into the surrounding architecture.

Then it looked at Sonic, through eyes hidden beneath a shaggy, vine-coated forehead. Eyes that really weren't eyes at all. More like gaps in its face, leaking right through into the nothingness Sonic had felt in the space between the worlds.

It was just about the creepiest thing Sonic had ever seen in his life. He felt a shudder. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Not with Eggman, or Shadow. Not even when Dark Oak looked him right in the eye.

Sonic the Hedgehog didn't start these kinds of battles.

No matter what Knuckles might say about him, he didn't go around asking for trouble: trouble just always seemed to _locate_ him in one way or another. And this thing was _trouble_ of the type that didn't care about pride or glory the way Eggman did. It didn't seek a meaning for its existence like Shadow. It had none of Dark Oak's reverence or arrogance. It simply _was_. It simply _destroyed_.

There was nothing in there worth fighting; not really, Sonic thought uneasily. There was no anger for him to get annoyed by, or malice to prompt him into action. The rage he sensed with every bellow and shake of the creature's massive body was just the pretence of emotions that weren't really there. They _couldn't_ be there. How could there be feelings in the mind of a creature with eyes like _that_? Actually, if the thing hadn't been so damn insistent on destroying everything in its path, Sonic wouldn't have wanted to fight at all.

Except that it _was_ destroying everything in its path. Which, when you got down to it, was the problem.

Sonic had plenty of time to think about all of this in the six-point-five-zero seconds it took the creature to come in for a second attack. And then a third. It ripped through the pavements and walls, always one step behind him with every slab removed.

And then it spoke. The same words Sonic heard in the Void. _**'Should not be here. Should not be. I **_**warned**_** you, slow witted monstrosity.' **_

'Hey! Who're you callin' slow?' Sonic asked, angrily. Amy glimpsed at him, blinking.

'Sonic, this is no time to be talking to yourself!' she snapped. Great. Whatever he was hearing, Sonic realised that she wasn't aware of it. And Tails probably wasn't either.

The creature struck again. Not fast enough. Sonic had time to grab Tails and Amy by one arm each and propel them all out of harm's way. The three of them skidded to a halt several feet away, with the creature smashing through the building it had landed on in its hurry to get to them.

Sonic grinned. Faster than it looked it may have been, but its speed still paled in comparison to his. That was all he needed to know. He decided now was as good a time as any to work out just how _strong_ it was, too. He let go of Amy and Tails, leaving them to stagger to their feet as he charged inwards, fists raised, aimed at the nearest of the creature's crooked legs.

It was like colliding with titanium. No, like colliding with something even harder than that. A shudder passed right through his body and out the tip of his quills and the pain in his fist started a couple of seconds after that. The next thing Sonic knew, he was right back where he'd started with Tails and Amy staring at him in bewilderment.

'Sonic?' Tails blurted out. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm fine!' Sonic snapped, and thought a little part of his brain was telling him it might not be a good idea to go charging in again, he got to his feet and did it anyway, taking a short run up to build momentum. The same thing happened: first he collided with some random part of the creature's massive trunk at high speed, and then he was back on the floor. He staggered to his feet again feeling utterly confused. The creature's body seemed to expand as it took huge gulps of air, every inch of it shuddering like a thousand Egg Carriers falling apart, except not nearly as funny.

'_**Hedgehog.' **_

There it was again. Sonic didn't really care that the others couldn't hear it; there is no way that voice in his head was only an illusion. '_Now_ what? You wanna arrange surrender terms? This tool of yours is going down, either way.'

There was a pause before it responded. Or maybe it just _felt_ like a pause because he was moving so quickly. _**'You understand its purpose. Good, but not good enough. Get out. You do not belong here.'**_

'Yeah, yeah, I heard that the first time,' Sonic jumped, dodging one blow after another with all the speed of a bullet –this freak had as many weird, tangled vine-like arms as it did legs, and every one of them was pounding at the ground in its desperation to smash them all to pieces. 'I don't know what—' (dodge, shift, another building turned to dust besides him) '—You are, or what you—' (jump, spin, twist around an incoming spindle leg to kick at it from underneath). '—_think_ you are, but if anyone's in the wrong place here, it's you!'

The voice fell silent, but the monster sure as hell didn't. Figuring he wasn't going to get any coherent responses from it, Sonic decided it was probably better _not_ to keep asking questions.

Besides, it became a little hard to talk when one of the many thick _steelstonewood_ tendrils wrapped itself around him and clung on tight, even against sonic speed. It dragged him into its face and screamed like a rusting door hinge, only a thousand times louder. From this close up it was once again possibly to see what should have been the dark eyes, but seemed more like hollow pits of nothing in a face like a Metarex gone wrong.

Sonic could see the gap between the worlds reflected in this monster's eyes, and it was seriously freaking him out.

Yeah. Maybe this wasn't a great time to be making quips.

Something heavy and yellow burst a few inches past Sonic's ear, smashing into the creature's side and Sonic felt its grip slacken. When he looked (though he didn't really need to) Amy was stood there, angry and defiant with a new hammer already materialising in her hand to replace the one she'd thrown. 'And there's more where that came from, buster! Let my Sonic go!'

The _icecolddark_ eyes glimpsed in Amy's direction for a brief instant but reacted no more. At the same time, another of the creatures huge spindle legs reared out and smashed into Tails, sending him flying backwards.

Sonic winced. '_Enough_ _already_!' He yelled, still not entirely sure just what he was yelling _at_. 'We get the point!'

The monster paid no heed. It merely spread its vine-like arms further, tearing into the streets around them.

If ever there was a time for Chaos Control...

Sonic reached for where the Emeralds waited for him in his mind, kind of like reaching in to lift an image off the page of a book in his head, except easier. He asked and they appeared. He chose, and the ones he wanted came forward to him. It was as easy as that. Nothing more complicated than a simple request to turn to tide of battle.

Sonic opened his eyes, grinning. '_Chaos Control_.'

* * *

There were an awful lot of people.

There _hadn't_ been a few minutes ago, but when they returned to the Main Courtyard with Alisa Armstrong and the boy named Miles (supported by both Danny and Francis); they found that pretty much everyone in the university had shown up. Or at least, Knuckles thought nervously, everyone who _hadn't_ been caught within the walls of grey energy scattered across half of the campus, draining them of all their energy...

...And he really wasn't going to think about that.

The humans hung around in a confused throng. Some people were clutching at limbs or crying, but for the most part, people just seemed shocked; unable to understand what was happening to the world around them. Knuckles didn't blame them.

'Okay.' Alisa said, scanning the situation. 'Looks like this is it. There are probably more people stuck in those walls. Be damned if I know what to do about it. I figure you kids should just sit tight while we try and organize ourselves.'

'What about the portal room?' Chris asked. 'Don't you think we should have someone watching it?'

Alisa nodded. 'I suppose, but I was under the impression that we'd already shut the power to that room down. It shouldn't be causing anymore trouble, correct?'

Something about her tone of voice –part agreement, part carefully shielded suspicion– made Knuckles look up and take notice.

'Yeah, but we still don't know whether the guys being here had anything to do with me,' Chris pointed out. 'Knuckles and Cream arrived via the portal but what about what's going on in the sky? And what if there's a risk of other portal zones condensing in the local area if this _isn't_ a one off?'

'Wait, you're saying there could be portals opening somewhere else?' Helen asked nervously.

'If that's true,' Cream said (sounding more hopeful than Knuckles felt) 'then maybe Sonic and the others got here after all.'

'It's possible,' Chris said. 'We should keep a look out.'

Knuckles sensed Alisa's protest coming before it did. 'Mister Thorndyke, please, I'm well aware of Station Square's notoriety involving Inter-Dimensional Portalling. I've seen it before,' she said dryly.

Chris folded his arms and scowled (which maybe wasn't as convincing an expression as it might've been, given that he was five feet tall and wearing a lab coat –Knuckles finally noticed– which was several sizes too big for him. The rolled up sleeves had come undone). 'Yeah, well so have I. I was on location at the time. Twelve-years-old, but _on_ location. I even _initiated_ it once. I know how portals work and I know how they _don't_, ma'am.'

'Yeah and that's looking like it might well be the problem.' Alisa said; turning to face him with her arms also folded. 'You'd better hope on your graduation certificate that this is all one huge conscience, Christopher, because if it's not you might have caused one helluva city-wide crisis.'

Chris hesitated, but only for an instant. '...Look, this doesn't have anything to do with me. I never touched the portal. It's not even supposed to be able to contain the power necessary to _initiate_ transportation.'

'He's got a point,' Danny said. 'You didn't see it before, Miss Armstrong. The power flow to the room was completely out of whack, we had no idea what was happening until the lights came back on and by that point _he_ was passed out on the floor. I figure the portal activating was a _symptom_ rather than the cause.'

'Yes, I'm sure you do,' Alisa said, not seeming to believe it at all. 'Funny though, isn't it? That he should be able to run in to one of those structures and pull Helen out unharmed when Miles here seems to have lost the use of his legs?' Chris frowned, and Alisa pressed on unerringly. 'Something's happening, isn't it, Chris? Can you explain how this all occurred if it _wasn't_ something to do with your portal?'

'Can _you_ explain how a single university-based portal-energy system created a big enough power flux to affect the _entire city_?' Chris shot back. Alisa, argued into silence, held his gaze for a very long moment. Knuckles watched, almost in amusement, to see which of them was going to crack first.

In the end it was Chris, though probably only because Helen squeezed his arm again, distracting him. 'Chris? What happens now?'

Chris glimpsed at her for a second, and Knuckles tried –and failed – to read something meaningful in his expression. All he saw was annoyance and confusion. 'I guess we do what she says,' Chris he muttered reluctantly. 'And we wait for an ambulance for Miles. You should probably wait on it too, Helen.'

'I'm okay,' Helen squeezed his arm through a too-large sleeve, smiling. 'See? Right here. I could probably still beat you up in a sparring match.'

Chris smiled. 'Just checking.'

'There's no need, I'm not going anywhere, Besides, _you_ ran in there too. If I have to be stuck in the back of an ambulance then be damned if I'm not making you suffer with me.'

Knuckles glimpsed at Helen uneasily. Alisa actually had a point. Helen had been caught in the energy wall, just like so many others, and yet here she sat, with no signs of crumbling skin or disintegrating cloth. Her lab coat was white and pristine. So was Chris's for that matter. As if neither of them had even _touched_ the wall of energy, much less passed through it.

He coughed. Helen removed her hand from Chris's arm. Chris looked the other way. 'Sorry to break up the moment,' he muttered. 'But I think we still need to have a little talk.'

'There'll be time for that later, Knuckles,' Francis said, looking at him impatiently. 'Right now we have to check on people. Half the people in the University must've been on campus, and who knows how many of them got caught within those... those things.' She brandished a hand distastefully at a nearby wall.

'Glad you see sense. Whatever they are we'll deal with them after we've gotten people _away_ from them,' Alisa said, evenly, apparently going into a kind of Crisis-Mode no doubt possessed by all teachers. 'And if a police or investigation agent shows up we have to talk to them about the portal room as soon as possible. Is that clear?'

'We've got it, ma'am,' Francis said, evenly, and the boy named Miles shuddered slightly, as if sensing a change in the wind.

* * *

'I thought I'd find you here.'

"Up here" being the roof of the Jefferson Building, roughly fifteen stories high, it was probably the highest point on campus and offered a view of virtually the whole facility. Including the now very crowded courtyard below and the wall where Helen had been trapped less than half an hour earlier.

Chris stood at the edge of the building looking into the sky with what seemed to be a pair of binoculars held before his eyes. He smiled, though Knuckles couldn't tell if he was genuinely amused. He swore that boy used to be a heck of a lot easier to read. 'How'd you figure that out?'

'Maybe because we all seem to have a penchant for high places,' he said as he joined Chris at the edge of the open rooftop, gazing out into the green sky (or grey, depending on where exactly you were looking).

'I was trying to get a better view,' Chris said, handing the binoculars over. 'Here. Look into the nearest grey wall there. Tell me what you see.'

The first thing Knuckles could think of to say was "not much". The grey walls kept getting in the way. Trying to look through them was impossible. When he had been standing up close he had been able 

to see the hazy outlines of buildings and shrubbery within, but from a distance it was impossible to make out anything but a shimmering grey surface.

'We're not surrounded on all sides,' Chris said. 'You can go around the walls in some places, just not _through_ them. A lot of routes across the city are still open. Whatever it is, it's not meant to be a prison. Not so long as you're not on the inside of one of those big, grey areas anyway.

Knuckles tried not to think about what that meant. The look on Chris's face was explanatory enough – pale and drawn, as if he hadn't slept in several days. Asides from that, he looked the same as he had when he arrived in their world months ago; right down to the coat which was several sizes too big for him (rolled up at the sleeves and apparently attacked with a pair of scissors below the waist. "They just don't make undergraduate lab equipment for people who aren't tall enough to reach the top of a control panel.")

'It seems as if the walls came down randomly,' Knuckles said, handing the binoculars back.

'_Looks_ that way, but I'm pretty sure there's a pattern to it,' Chris said. It's kind of like a honeycomb. Some people are in areas filled by Chaos Energy. Others are trapped inside the walls... and I think they're being drained. Just like Miles and Helen... and like me when I stepped in there.'

'_And yet you stepped out again where no one else could_.' Knuckles thought. He felt slightly bothered by the fact that the twelve-(eighteen? Whatever...)-year-old seemed to have a better idea of what was going on than he did (even if, should you try to measure up their collective knowledge between them, they would have come out pretty much clueless anyway). 'Okay, fine, so what happens when all the energy is _gone_ from the areas? When there's nothing left to drain?'

'I don't know,' Chris said. 'But I don't think it's going to be pretty,' he bit his lip. 'We have to do something, Knuckles.'

Knuckles nodded. The sensation of Chaos tickled in his veins like the aftershock of a bad dream. He couldn't imagine what had happened to the others when they were sucked up in the Master Emerald's energy; much less what had happened to the people trapped within the walls.

'_And it's all the Master Emerald's doing, right?' _Knuckles thought, looking into the sky and avoiding Chris's gaze. '_Whatever's happening right now has something to do with the power of Chaos Control... I could've stopped it. _

'_I _should've_ stopped it. The Master Emerald should have listened to me.'_

Except, of course, that it hadn't. Except for those few brief seconds when the energy that apparently coated them had reacted around Chris's body and nowhere else. 'You know we still haven't worked out how you got in there in the first place,' he said after a moment.

'Yeah and I get the feeling Miss Armstrong is going to call me up on the portal thing.' Chris said. 'Look I... I _swear_, Knuckles I didn't bring you here on _purpose_.'

'It's alright' Knuckles said. 'Actually I'm fairly sure you're telling the truth. Before we came here the Master Emerald was acting strangely. Kept showing me things I didn't understand. Pictures...' (Green eyes, broken chair, a ring in hand, memory and reflection and maybe the future, he didn't know but whatever it was it had freaked him out something rotten) '...Images. Manifestations of something 

that might yet be. I think it was trying to warn me that something like this might happen. As for what it's doing now... well, I'm pretty much stumped on that one. Either way it's not your fault.'

Chris seemed to relax a little. 'That's good. Think you can help me convince Miss Armstrong?'

Knuckles snorted. 'Huh. No offence, Chris, but your teacher has made me start feeling a lot more tolerant of Shadow. Anyone would think she'd never seen a talking echidna before.'

Chris laughed lightly. 'I doubt she has. Still, talking echidna or not, I don't guess she was expecting to deal with something like this her first day on the job, Knuckles.'

'Yeah, well_, I_ wasn't expecting to be dragged out of my own world and dumped in the middle of one I never thought I'd see again...' (_With the soul reason for my being torn apart and scattered over my head like some kind of damn kaleidoscopic display. Again. Chaos damn it_.) 'And _I'm_ dealing. It's no easier for us than for her.'

Chris said nothing to that, though something told Knuckles he agreed. 'What I want to know is how you did it,' he said. 'I punched at that wall over and over but it wouldn't so much as dent and trying to get in any other, _gentler_, way... Well, let's just say it _hurt_.'

'Hey, I'm not saying it didn't hurt,' Chris muttered. 'But... I couldn't just stand there, not while Helen was trapped inside.'

'So you thought it would be clever to just run in there and nearly get yourself killed, huh?' Knuckles said dryly. 'You're taking a little too much inspiration from Sonic, kid. Helen must be very important to you.'

'Yeah. She is. I mean she _always_ was, but... Um. Yeah.' Chris coughed, turning his head so that he was deliberately facing in opposite direction to Knuckles. He seemed eager to get back to the original subject. 'So why do _you_ think I could run in there? I mean... I don't remember getting _out_ at all, but I remember hearing you.'

'You're sure?'

'Well judging by the tone of voice and the fact that it seemed pretty cheesed off with me? It couldn't really be anyone else. You said "_finish what you started_", so I did. I don't know if I would've gotten out of there if it hadn't been for you.'

Knuckles frowned. He remembered saying that. And he remembered hearing Chris answering inside his head. The implications of this were something he didn't quite know how to process. 'Well, like I said before... maybe being under one of the defended areas when this happened meant to we were coated in Chaos Energy. That might've been what protected you when you penetrated the shield.'

'So you think it was like being vaccinated, or something?'

'Sure, if you want to look at it that way,' Knuckles shrugged (he didn't actually know what being vaccinated was, but this wasn't the time to be indulging scientific curiosities). 'But let's not try it _again_ to find out. You barely got out the first time, and I've no idea how you managed to bring Helen with you.'

'But what about the people still stuck in there?' Chris asked. 'That guy Miles... and Helen... What if what happened to them is happening to _others_, too? We can't just _leave_ them!'

'There's nothing else we _can_ do except find a way to shut this down,' Knuckles said. 'We're dealing with a very dangerous variety of magic here, Chris. We mustn't rush into it unprepared.'

'I know that, but...' Chris trailed off, clearly unable to think of a "but" that he thought would convince Knuckles.

'Then we'll just have to wait and see,' Knuckles said. 'We're not going to help anyone using Sonic's standard "run really fast, smash some heads and get out even faster" method, Chris. I'd rather not have to explain to Sonic that I let you...'

He trailed off when he realised that Chris had started laughing, and soon dissolved into absolute hilarity to the point at which he had to take a couple of steps away from the wall to avoid toppling over it. '...What exactly is so amusing?'

'Sorry, sorry,' Chris swallowed another well of laughter. 'It's just... "_Run really fast, smash some heads and get out even faster_"?'

'Hey, it wasn't that funny!' Knuckles tried not to smile; he really did, but... yeah. He supposed that they were both just desperate to break the rising tension, even if only for a few minutes. 'So maybe that wasn't the most _technical_ term I could've thought of, but you're the damn scientist here, not me.'

'It was descriptive,' Chris chuckled, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his lab coat. 'That really _is_ the way he does everything, huh? Funny how it always works so well...

'Hey... I don't regret it, you know...' Chris added after a moment. Knuckles sensed another change in subject. This kid bounced back and forth between topics like as yoyo. 'Ending up like this, I mean. Twelve years old all over again.'

'Well you seemed to find it pretty disturbing the first time.'

'Disturbing? No. _Embarrassing_. But I can deal. Sure so I can't reach the safety buttons for the lab computers, I keep getting mistaken for some tutor's son, nobody ever believes I'm earning a degree and Helen...' he trailed off slightly. Knuckles knew better than to pry. '...Well. Things happen the way they happen. We just have to do the best we can.'

'Quoting your grandfather?' Knuckles asked.

'Sorta,' Chris smiled. 'When I first got home from your world? I was totally freaked out by the fact that I hadn't grown _back_ up. I didn't know how I was going to face anyone looking like this again. It kind of brings up memories of what it was like the first time around. But Grandpa told me that... what had really happened was that I'd been given a gift.'

'A... gift?' Knuckles raised an eyebrow. He failed to see how suddenly being too small for your entire wardrobe was a good thing (not that he'd ever had a problem in that department himself).

'Sure. How many people do _you_ know who get to have a second childhood?'

'Including the one I'm sharing a rooftop vista with right now?' Knuckles said, amusedly. 'One.'

'See what I mean?' Chris looked back at the sky. 'So things haven't turned out the way they planned. I can't spend my whole life explaining it away. Besides, six years and I'll have caught up and no one will be able to tell the difference anyway.'

Knuckles nodded. 'Speak for yourself, kid, you look just the way you always did to me.' _Though you don't honestly _sound_ the way you always did, _he added silently as he stepped away from the wall.

He had been about to open his mouth and comment on getting down from the roof at some point, but _it_ happened before he had the chance. "It" being a sudden beam of light bursting upwards in the distance like a rising sun. He started, shivering at the sound ringing through the air, like out of tune bells mixed with the echo of one of Sonic's faster-than-sound booms. 'What the...'

His first thought was that another of the Emerald Fragments was acting up again. Then he realised that the distant light wasn't green, but gold, mingled in with the sudden shadows cast across the town. His surprise faded into hope as he realised that such a light could only have come from one person.

He looked at Chris. The boy was wearing an expression that didn't seem to know whether it was confused, excited or terrified.

'...Knuckles... is that?'

'Chaos Control,' Knuckles muttered, the feeling of hope in his stomach turning into an all too familiar anxious knot. 'Looks like Sonic caught the ride here after all.'

* * *

One of Sonic's personal rules (which was a big thing, seeing as he didn't usually make _any_ rules for _anything_) involved him not using the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds that much. He knew that if he wanted to, he could probably run across half a galaxy under the power of Chaos Control. In fact, forget about _running_. He could _think_ where he wanted to be and then _be _there without a second's hesitation. Having all seven of them together in one place at one time was a feat that hadn't been achieved in... He didn't know how long, but longer than he'd been around for sure.

But what kind of thrill came out of a fight that was over before it began? If you just teleported to anywhere you wanted, what was the fun of going in the first place? How boring would a universe be if you could explore every inch of it in the time it took to say those two little words?

No. That wasn't how Sonic did things. It never had been and it never would. He didn't run to save the world. He ran because running was what he wanted to do. Chaos Control was nice and everything, but he had no real _need_ for it. Now, however...

Yeah. He could see reason for using it occasionally. And watching the body of the creature finally stagger and crumble into the shattered buildings all around, and feeling the sensation of golden light being drawn back inside of him, Sonic figured this was one of those times.

A quick glimpse around found Amy brushing down her skirt nearby with a haggard look on her face, and Tails staggering to his knees near a crumbled wall, rubbing the back of his head. He opened his eyes to see Sonic's hand stretched out before him. 'You okay, buddy?'

'_Ow_... Ugh. I will be,' Tails grunted, accepting the hand up, wincing. 'Once the world stops doing three-point turns every time I blink. What about you, did it hurt you?'

'Who, me? Nah, it was a cakewalk. What, didja doubt me?'

Tails smiled vaguely, glancing in the direction of the crumbled monster lying very still within the ruins they had created, trails of Chaos Energy still glistening across its body. He'd made is as quick as he could, Sonic reminded himself, but still a part of him couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for it. Chaos Control was a nasty way to go (another reason why Sonic disliked using that kind of power.) 'It's... it's not getting up again, right?'

'Oh I hope not,' Amy breathed heavily. 'I think I'm actually running out of hammers. What _is_ that thing, Sonic? What did it _want_?'

'No idea,' Sonic muttered, wiping a hand across his jaw and feeling something on his tongue which tasted worryingly like blood. 'But whatever it is, I bet it came from the gap between the worlds.'

'You mean the big, black thing?' Amy blinked (she seemed to have been doing a lot of that lately). 'The one we came through to get here?'

'Yeah,' Sonic said. 'I could see when it had a hold of me before: it was as if its eyes were made out of... of black air, or something.' He clenched his fists, trying to ignore the pain in his jaw when he gritted his teeth. 'There are more out there, I bet. And they'll come here.'

'Oh... lucky us,' Amy bit her lip, then scowled, anxiety replaced with the same fierce resolve she had shown when the monster had Sonic in its grip. 'Well, fine, then we'll just have to take them out, too!'

Tails looked nervous. He seemed strangely small and probably felt a little useless without the X-Tornado. 'Not if it _is_ a Metarex...'

'You've got to be kidding,' Amy shook her head rapidly. 'No way is that thing a Metarex, Tails, they're all dead. We _saw_.'

Sonic nodded. He knew that. He knew what they had seen out there in space all those months ago. This thing, whatever it was and whatever it was made out of, couldn't possibly exist in a real world anywhere. It _wasn't_ a Metarex. Aside from the head; it didn't even really _look_ like one.

Still its attacks sure as hell felt _like_ it.

And it was, apparently, just as difficult to kill off. The huge body before them suddenly heaved and shuddered, rising up out of falling debris. Sonic was reminded of the earth rising up underneath him when the Metarex attacked their planet all that time ago, sucking their Planet's Core out into space.

'_No. Not a Metarex_,' he told himself angrily. '_This thing is _not_ a Metarex, stop thinking of it that way, Sonic; it's not the same thing at all_!'

'Oh, no!' Amy groaned. 'What _is_ this thing? A giant cockroach?!'

'This has to stop,' Tails said uneasily. 'There are people here, Sonic; we can't let it keep going like this or someone's going to get hurt!'

'Y-yeah,' Amy gulped. 'Like us, for example!'

Sonic stood up, reading the uncertainty in Tails' face as easily as an open book. _Wrong_, he realised. Something was wrong with the way Tails looked. Something in his face suggested more than fear or anger. He had no idea what his little buddy was thinking but he knew it probably wasn't a hopeful thought.

And then he looked away and the world –including the giant freaky monster that had somehow survived a head on _Chaos Control_– was real again. Sonic swallowed. They were in trouble.

'Get back to the Tornado,' he snapped, grabbing Tails' arm and pushing him in Amy's direction, the way he used to when they were younger and he wanted to get Tails out of the danger zone as quickly as was possible. 'Right now, move it!'

* * *

He analysed the phenomenon the same way he analysed all the unusual things that tended to crop up in their world: that was, with a mixture of keen scientific interest, coupled with thoughts of exactly _what_ it was, and how he might be able to use it to blow things up. (It was a Taking Over The Planet thing. Usually, nine times out of ten, he found that blowing things up or threatening to do so, was as good a way as any to enforce obedience in an unruly population. It probably would have worked for him already if that damned hedgehog didn't insist on getting in the way).

'Um... Doctor Eggman sir? There appears to be another instance of the phenomenon springing up at the edge of Acorn City.'

'Be quiet, darn you, I already know,' Eggman muttered irritably. 'I can see it all on the screen. If you're going to give me a running commentary then at least try and make it useful.'

He muttered irritably to himself, counting the burning white tubes of energy that had sprung up at several locations across the planet. Whatever it was, this was interfering with his plans for building an empire. Be damned if he wasn't going to get to the bottom of it.

'Well then, perhaps it's the Master Emerald.' One of the robots suggested in a tone he probably thought was helpful.

'Perhaps it's something trying to _destroy_ the Master Emerald.'

'Perhaps it's that Guardian of the Master Emerald trying to destroy something else.'

'Perhaps it's Sonic.'

'That's possible too, Decoe. Then again, it could just be a thermodynamic reaction concentrated on a small location and influenced by a flux of power on a quantum level.'

'What is _that_ supposed to be?'

'I have no idea, but it's listened here in my "_Guide to Understanding Universal Phenomenon In Your Back Yard"_.'

'Hm. You know, I really need to get a copy of that.'

'Will you two _shut_ _up_? I can always decide to short circuit your communication software if I want to.'

'Sorry doctor, shutting up post haste.'

'Seconded!'

Eggman muttered to himself before going back to his screens. One thing was for sure: this wasn't nearly as random as it might first seem. Every single beam had come to life in a very specific area. He ran up a few maps of different planets, overlapping them and observing the changes in between.

The Master Emerald blowing up... And now these seemingly useless energy bypasses appearing in key locations all across the world... These light beams were created with Chaos Energy no doubt about it, so this mess had definitely started somewhere around the region of the Master Emerald.

...Which could, of course, mean only one thing.

Eggman leaned back in his chair and folded his arms distastefully. 'Humph. I should've known. That darn brat...'

'Excuse me, sir?'

'Now, Doctor, there is no need to be rude, I was merely voicing my thoughts aloud and we were quiet when you asked.'

'I'm not talking about _you_, you darn motor mouth,' Eggman snapped. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't just remove their vocal simulators and be done with it already. 'I'm talking about that Thorndyke kid. He's like a slower, more irritating version of that blasted hedgehog. Just can't seem to keep his nose out of our business for long. Should've left him on this planet where we could keep an eye on him or something.'

'One way to find out,' Eggman muttered standing up and beating a fist against the tabletop, mostly for dramatic emphasis. 'Get this rust bucket moving, we're going to the Emerald Forest and the location of the Master Emerald. We're going to get to the bottom of this before some _other_ freaky work of insanity tries to take over the galaxy which is rightfully mine. Or the _other_ one, either way.'

'Oh...' The robots sounded disappointed. Too bad for them. 'Then will we be requiring the guidebook for this one?'

* * *


	12. Eleven: Spaces

**There's been a bit of a lag, I know. Blame it on university work. Fortunately there's a wee bit of a schedule shift so I managed to turn out another chapter. The previous ones have not yet been edited. **

**Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit are appreciated. **

* * *

Eleven.

Cream was sitting on Helen's lap. Talking.

'...And that was where we found the first Chaos Emerald after Sonic lost them. But it wasn't a _real_ Chaos Emerald, just a fake one that the Metarex made. And then the ice castle broke into pieces and everyone had to run.'

Talking an awful lot, for that matter. She had the feeling she was going on and on, but was finding it difficult to stop. She had so much to talk about; so many things to tell her. Luckily, Helen was being very understanding.

'And the whole _building_ was made of ice, huh? That must've been cold.'

'Yes. But we had gloves.'

'Cream, you always have gloves.' Helen said, amusedly.

'Thicker ones,' Cream said. 'Still, Sonic kept getting stuck in the snow drifts. I don't think he liked it very much.'

'I'm not surprised. Snow is just frozen water, isn't it? And we all know how much Sonic _hates_ getting wet.'

Cream giggled, then forced herself to swallow. This probably wasn't a sensible place for her to be sitting anyway, Cream thought. Not seeing as Helen had just been pulled out of a rather nasty, energy draining wall that seemed to push away everyone who tried to touch it (except for Chris, and Cream really didn't understand how that had worked _at all_).

'Are you sure that it's okay for me to be here, Helen? I'm not hurting you, am I?'

'Mm. No, you're not hurting me at all. Tell me what else happened out there in space.'

'Lots of other things happened... Some of them were really scary. It was okay though. Sonic was with us most of the time and even when he wasn't things always turned out alright in the end.'

And besides, Cream thought, she was getting to be a big girl now. She'd been into space, and to other worlds, and even all the way to the middle of the galaxy. She shouldn't really need as many hugs and reassurances as she used to. But all the same it was... nice here. Comfortable and familiar, even if Helen was a lot bigger than Cream remembered her being before.

She said as much, and Helen chuckled. 'I know. We've grown up since you were here last. Most of us, anyway.' She pulled Cream a little closer. '_Some_ of us have shrunk.'

'You mean Chris.'

'Mm. We'd really like an explanation for that some time too, you know. I don't suppose you have any idea why my eighteen year old friend jumped out of that portal looking like he was twelve?'

Cream shook her head. 'I'm sorry. When he got to our world he looked just the way he always looked to me. His clothes were much too big for him though.'

Helen laughed; louder this time. 'Oh yeah, I... can imagine that caused quite a problem.' They paused for a moment as the crowds around them continued to gather. There was quite a line forming outside of the ambulances by this point, though most appeared to have calmed down since the initial disaster. There were several, Cream also noticed, who had tattered clothing and crumbling skin and frightened tears in their eyes. She knew that these must be the people who had been in contact with the huge grey walls when they came down around the city. Other people –most of them looking like they were the same age as Helen– milled about in groups, gazing nervously at the grey shields towering above them.

Cream was trying her best not to look at them at all. She buried her nose into Helen's white coat, feeling very aware of how white and clean it was, and how smooth and unbroken the skin of her hands seemed to be. Even though she'd been right in the _middle_ of that awful thing...

'So you went out into the galaxy,' Helen murmured quietly. 'Went to all those different planets... and faced all those awful monsters, all by yourselves? That was very brave of you.'

Cream frowned and removed her face from Helen's clothing, wondering where such an idea could have come from. 'No, I wasn't brave. Not really. I got scared all the time.'

'But don't you see, Cream?' Helen smiled. 'That's the very thing which _makes_ you brave.'

Cream tried her best to understand this, but failed after several minutes of attempted deep thought. 'How come?'

Helen took a deep breath. 'Well... it's like how some people don't like bugs. You know Francis? She really _hates_ creepy crawlies. And Chris isn't so fond of them either. Whereas _I'm_ okay with them. So it would be nothing to me, to just pick up a little bug from the ground. It would be a lot braver for one of them to do it. And what about Sonic? Do you think that he's honestly never afraid of anything at all?'

Cream thought about it. 'Yes?'

Helen laughed again. 'Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best possible example. Tails, then. You've seen him scared before, but that doesn't mean he isn't brave, because he keeps on trying even when things seem too hard for him.'

Cream felt that she could understand this a little easier. 'Helen?'

'Mhm?'

'I... I know someone like that. You've never met her but she was a lovely person, and now that I think about it, she was a very _brave_ person, too.'

'I see,' Helen said, smiling. 'What's she like?'

Cream thought about her answer before giving it. She hadn't told Helen very much about Cosmo yet. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure _how_ to. How did you talk about someone who wasn't there anymore, to somebody who had never met them? And Cosmo was very difficult to explain with words. 'She fell out of the sky.'

'Fell from the _sky_?'

'Yes. During a meteor shower. She was very pretty. She had blue eyes, just like yours. She was kind, too. One time she threw us a party on the Blue Typhoon, with cake and everything.' She paused, thinking. 'She was the only one left out of all her clan; the rest of them died when the Metarex came, and she lived on a spaceship. Then the Metarex destroyed that, too. So she was frightened an awful lot of the time... and that means she was _brave_ all the time, doesn't it? Because she never stopped going even though she was afraid?'

'Yes, that's exactly right. Just like you all kept going. So you see; you _are_ just as brave as Sonic is. Maybe you're even braver.'

Braver than _Sonic_. This was an idea that Cream could hardly begin to wrap her furry ears around. She actually had to shake her head several times and ask Helen to repeat it before it sank in. 'How does that work? I get things wrong, all the time, Helen.'

'Well bravery isn't the same as being unstoppable, Cream,' Helen said.

'So it doesn't always work?' How weird. It always seemed to work for Sonic...

'No,' Helen said, and Cream could feel her resting her chin atop of Cream's head. 'Bravery is a good thing, but it doesn't just make everything better right away. And sometimes it can make things worse first.'

'Like when Knuckles gets really angry and starts breaking things?'

'Something like that, yes,' Helen shrugged, brushing at the tuft of hair that had grown on Cream's forehead since she had seen her last. It was growing out nice and long now, Cream thought; just like Momma's. She'd be able to do things with it soon, like plait it, and use those pretty hair ribbons that Amy had given her for her last birthday.

Cream shuffled in her place, feeling slightly surer of herself than she had a moment earlier. 'So that's why she still died... I wondered about that.'

Helen stayed silent for a long moment, almost long enough for Cream to think that she might have said something wrong. 'Your friend?'

Cream still wasn't sure how she was supposed to explain all of this. Helen kept holding her gently and waiting silently, though, and Cream knew that she didn't have to answer if she didn't really _want_ to, but...

'...Sonic looked for her everywhere, after she flew into space to stop the Metarex, you see,' she said, eventually. 'We thought that if _Sonic_ was looking then surely he'd find her. But he looked for hours and hours and he never did. She was brave, and she was strong... and she was gone, anyway.'

'Oh, Cream.' Helen's hug tightened slightly. She sounded... sad, Cream realised. Just the way she had on the day they'd went away from this world. Even though Helen had never even met Cosmo, Cream realised, she could still feel sad about it.

That... actually made Cream feel a little better about being so sad herself. 'It's okay, really. She was happy when it happened. I didn't understand why, but she was. It was what... she _wanted_ to do. She 

flew away, and... And she was smiling... Cosmo,' Cream finished, certainly, turning so that she could look at Helen over her shoulder. 'That was her name. It's a very pretty name, don't you think?'

Helen said nothing. That was alright, though. Cream wasn't entirely sure what she might have said anyway. She wasn't sure if anyone could ever explain why Cosmo had been as happy as she was back then, when everyone around her had been crying. She couldn't understand...

This was how they remained for what felt like a very long time, sitting silently together and not understanding anything much. Not the way they had come to be sitting in a green-lit courtyard with ambulances and frightened students. Not how the Master Emerald had broken into pieces and turned its power against them so horribly. Not how Cream was braver than Sonic, or why a good, kind person like Cosmo had to die to protect the people she loved.

Cream had been about to ask whether Helen had any of the answers to these many questions, but she was distracted by a glimpse of something emerging from a nearby building, which didn't look anything like a normal person should look. Not a human person, anyway. Cream tensed up as she watched a small, dark figure emerging from the doorway of the tall building they had been inside a few hours ago and scurry, almost insect like down the steps. It seemed strange and dark, like a bird with a deep, black sheet draped over its body. None of the people around them appeared to notice it.

'...Helen?' Cream clutched the lab coat a little tighter and tugged, turning Helen's head in the direction she was looking. She felt Helen's body tensing slightly.

'Yeah, I see it,' Helen murmured, and then a second later, they _didn't_ see it, because it had vanished out of sight. Just like that. It glimpsed once to the left and twice to the right, and then seemed to fizzle out of existence, like a whiff of smoke twirling into the sky. Cream yelped in surprise. She jumped from Helen's lap and ran several steps in the creature's direction, but soon stopped as she realised trying to follow it was pointless. It was nowhere to be seen. Cream couldn't even be sure where it had been standing. 'Or... maybe I don't,' Helen murmured, looking confused.

'It... It really _was_ there, wasn't it?' Cream asked uncertainly, for it had come and gone so quickly that she was already beginning to think she might've imagined it.

'Oh, it was there alright.' Helen muttered, turning the wheels of the chair she was using in order to better look at the place where the creature had been. 'It isn't _now_...'

'Oh. That's good. At least I know I wasn't imagining it. Um, where _is_ there exactly, Helen?' Cream blinked several times, trying very hard to remember, but she couldn't seem to focus on exactly where the strange, black smudge of a thing had been. 'I think my eyes were broken when they looked at it and were fixed again when I looked away.'

'That's a funny description, Cream, but accurate,' Helen said. She was blinking an awful lot as well.

Whatever it had been, Cream thought, it was truly gone now, and a few seconds later something else arrived to distract their attention.

Knuckles leapt across the wall besides them and ran past in such a hurry that he never even stopped to say hello. Chris was less than a few steps behind him, trying to roll up the sleeves of his lab coat as he ran and pushing his way between several surprised and confused students. He barely found the time to turn back to them and yell: 'Hey Helen, sorry, nothing to worry about but we think we 

might've found Sonic and we're gonna go check it out, won't be a second, look after Cream for us, thanks!'

Helen opened her mouth as if to protest, but no words came out. Chris and Knuckles had already vanished into the crowd before she could apparently come up with anything. For a moment, she and Cream merely stood there watching the space where the boys had been.

'Um,' Helen said, at last. 'Cream, did they just say something about Sonic?'

* * *

In the past, Sonic the Hedgehog had come up against his fair share of bad guys who quite simply refused to stay put after he had knocked them down.

That was nothing weird. Evil, creepy monsters were, as a general rule, a lot harder to squash than cockroaches. Fewer of these bad guys tended to get up again when he'd been using Chaos Control against them however, and Sonic could only think of one being who had ever been able to beat him (not to mention force him to _relinquish_ _control_ of the Emeralds altogether just to keep them _away_ from him). That one being had been Dark Oak.

And this creep? With all the extra limbs and deep, dark eyes and the refusal to just fall down and _stay_ down? Was definitely _not_ Dark Oak.

It sure as heck _fought_ like him, though –with stony arms and sharpened vines and a whole load of other awful things that Sonic didn't really want to think about. The freak should've gone down after he unleashed the power of two Chaos Emeralds against it. It _had_ gone down, and stayed down for at least three minutes, and yet here it was, rising up again; literally _rebuilding_ itself from the wreckage that had been torn away when Sonic attacked. The ugly monster had shed its cocoon, and left an even uglier one in its place.

It was kind of like fighting all the different Metarex he'd ever seen rolled into one; along with a bunch of steely traps, wrecked space ships, stray trees, wires and household appliances. This... thing seemed to be made up out of all the kinds of stuff you'd find in an intergalactic junkyard and compost heap, and yet beneath all of the grime and metal, Sonic could see its empty eyes, leering at him from deep inside. Eyes colder and emptier of feeling than Dark Oak's had ever been.

It _wasn't_ a Metarex.

Sonic he told himself this a few more times just to be sure, as he dodged between the strikes of stony-tendrils, defying gravity via Chaos Control. He knew that he was drawing on the energy of only four or five of the Emeralds; could feel the power of the others lying dormant in the back of his mind, burning to be released, but he held them back. There was no way he was going to use all seven of them right now. Not with the Master Emerald behaving the way it was.

Another building (or more accurately, the only wall left standing out of what had _been_ a building a few minutes earlier) crumbled as the creature shifted across the rubble it had created. Even in this new body, it didn't actually seem like it was capable of walking very far –and no wonder, with so much weight on such stupid legs. If nothing else, then at least the others would be able to outrun it.

That was if they would actually get it into their heads _to_ run already. Sonic glimpsed briefly to where Amy and Tails were still standing below, staring up at the battle in a mixture of horror and confusion. 

Sonic didn't blame them. This new version looked a whole lot scarier than it had before. He even thought it might've grown a few extra legs when it regenerated. One of which was probably going to crush his friends like pancakes if they didn't get out of the way already.

'Hey!' he yelled down to them and snap them out of their amazed stupor, his voice echoed as the Chaos Energy of five whole Chaos Emeralds amplified every sensation and output of his body. 'Guys, seriously, I appreciate the cheer leading but would you get _out of here_, already!'

Amy yelled back to him, but Sonic couldn't make out what she was saying. '_What_?! Amy, it's like Godzilla Meets Robot Battle here, whatever you're saying, save it for later!' '

Another dodge followed as a huge _metalwoodboth_ claw sliced a massive chuck of concrete out of the pavement and lobbed it in Sonic's direction. Amy's mouth continued to move and yet no sound came out. Too far away, Sonic thought. He looked at Tails with the best "if you don't move right now you're gonna be in seriously trouble" face that he could manage under the circumstances (it was kinda hard to make your facial expressions understandable when you were all lit up like a halogen light bulb).

Tails finally seemed to get the hint, he blinked out of his stupor and grabbed Amy by the arm, pulling her along with him even as she continued yelling something Sonic was unable to hear and jabbing frantically at something just behind—

'_Aw, _damn_ i—!'_

Sonic turned too late and the next thing he knew, his back was smashing into concrete while his front was being pummelled by a lump of flying... tentacle? It had to be a tentacle. Or else a really cold, solid tree root wrapped in metal. Whatever it was it _hurt_ and forced all the air out of him. The Chaos Control spreading across his body flickered, immediately reacting and intensifying upon the damaged areas, working to fix them before Sonic could even figure out what had been hurt or how badly.

'Oh... right... s'that's what she was saying...' Sonic groaned. He only fell a few feet before the Chaos Control kicked in again, renewing and charging through his body like a wild storm, but that alone was a surprise. Most creatures couldn't even make him twitch an eyelid when he was using Chaos Control.

Most creatures... Except for the Metarex, that was.

But that _couldn't_ be it. Okay, so this thing was huge and built out of metal and plant life all at once. So it hadn't been defeated the first time round even though he used Chaos Control against it then, too, and its eyes looked like the same deep dark nothingness that he had seen when he was trying to pass between one world and the other. That didn't mean anything at all. It didn't mean that this... this _thing_ was a 'Rex, right?

Right?

The only answer Sonic received was another attempted blow to the face from a shard of metal shearing off from one of the monster's arms. Sonic flinched as the metal grazed his face and scowled. Okay, that arm definitely _hadn't_ been there last he looked.

'Alright, I didn't wanna do this, but it's not like you leave me any choice, huh buddy?'

Sonic sucked in a breath. The words "_Chaos Spear!_" appeared to emerge from his mouth silently, when in fact they were sounding too loudly for any normal person to hear. The power built up and up as Sonic debated where the heck he was supposed to _fire_ it.

The creature raised itself up, scrambling over decimated walls in its rush to get to him. If he could take out the building it was leaning on, maybe—

But no; not with Amy and Tails still so close, and Sonic could see other people from here, too – they were at a distance, gathered together in what looked like a large bus shelter. Sonic could see a stumbling figure with a bundle in his arms running towards the gathering crowd: probably the police officer who they had spoken to earlier.

At least _some_ people had the brains to get out of the way when a guy told them to.

Sonic himself wasn't one of them, of course.

_Faster_, he thought urgently. He needed to be faster. he had to take this creature out, and then break it into so many pieces that it couldn't just pull itself back together again like last time. Fast enough to scatter its fragments far and wide before it could destroy anymore of the city or get anyone hurt.

And that was easy, right? After all, who in the world could ever be as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog?

The _notaMetarexsomethingworsebiggerscarier_worse screamed, as if it sensed what was coming. Sonic grinned. 'Yeah, that's right. You wanna see some real action, tough guy?'

The voice echoed in his head again. It was sharper and more irritating than it had been when he heard it before, but it was the same voice nonetheless. _**'No action. Stillness. Closure. Death. Should not be here, Chaos Creature. You do not belong.' **_

This time, sonic didn't even flinch. 'Yeah, I gotcha,' he said. 'So this is a grudge match, right? Round two. Lets seeya grow back _this_ time.'

'_**Insignificance. There will always be more growth.' **_

'We'll see,' Sonic muttered. And yeah –he'd worry about the peculiar voices that were talking in his head later. Right now, he had bigger fish to fry. '_Chaos Control._'

Until Sonic arrived it had been years, maybe even centuries, since the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds had been brought together in one form at the same time. The effect this time was as explosive now as it had ever been. Sonic didn't usually think too much about these things. The seven Chaos Emeralds meant _power_, and power could be awesome –sometimes. Times like right now when he needed them to help his friends and keep big scary monsters from destroying entire cities. The last two Chaos Emeralds screamed from deep inside of him and this time, Sonic yielded to them, reaching deep and drawing out their power just as he had the others.

And that was when things _really_ started to get weird.

* * *

It took him eight minutes to get from one end of the University campus to the other. Nine and a half if you counted the dash across the rooftop, through the access hatch, down eight flights of stairs and into the courtyard.

It felt a great deal longer. Chris had discovered that one of the worst things about being stuck in a twelve year old body again was the fact that you were a heckuva lot shorter and therefore slower by association.

He kept thinking about the Master Emerald.

Which was no wonder really. He _was_ running through Station Square with Knuckles the Echidna on one side and a bright green sky filled with Chaos Energy and Emerald Fragments over their heads. It would be kind of hard to _forget_ about the Master Emerald's presence right at that moment. Still the words he spoke with Knuckles earlier were pounding in his head with unnatural ferocity. He kept repeating the words of Knuckles' Chant over and over, as if just saying it might make something happen. _'The seven Chaos Emeralds... Enriched by the heart... The seven chaos emeralds... servers... Chaos is the power enriched by the heart...'_

It wasn't helping so much anymore. Why was the Master Emerald _doing_ this? Chris thought, nervously. Its purpose was to _protect _the worlds, not to harm them. Whatever was happening here, surely the Master Emerald couldn't be doing it by choice. Something _had_ to be manipulating it... causing it to break into pieces; and creating all those grey walls...

Knuckles was probably thinking the exact same thing. His face bore grim and serious expression every time Chris cast a glimpse in his direction. How must it feel for him, Chris wondered? To have the very reason for your being torn to pieces right in front of you? To see it turn against you and begin causing such harm?

They stopped after what seemed like forever running in the direction of the yellow light. They were surrounded by buildings on all sides, but they were nothing like the modern, pristine constructions of his student class's area. When the rest of the Station Square main campuses had been renovated the previous year, nobody had bothered to extent the overhaul to this area and the drab constructions of the outer university offices and storage warehouses all looked exactly the same to Chris. They could've been just about anywhere and he couldn't have told the difference. It was also, he decided, spookily deserted way out here.

'You're... muttering again,' Knuckles gasped out between breaths as they finally stumbled to a stop in the middle of some random high street, looking around and trying to place the location of the nearby battle from where they were. In the distance, Chris could make out the steady rising glow of gold light that seemed to crackle and explode across the nearby buildings. A rough estimate placed it near yet another of the grey walls.

'Sorry,' Chris muttered, too distractedly to seriously mean it.

Knuckles gave him a breathless look which clearly stated "_I'd be more concerned about why you're doing it if this weren't such an emergency_", before speaking aloud. 'Alright, fine, so we're running through the city like a... couple of idiots with no idea where we're going and there's absolutely no one else around... _This_ was a good plan, wasn't it? Where the heck are we now, anyway? We need to... find the fastest way to Sonic.'

'E-edge of the Persimmon Campus, I think,' Chris swallowed. 'This is where they store the technical equipment and take used paperwork... stuff like that.'

'Edge of the...' Knuckles blinked, straightening up. 'We're been... running for _ages _and you're telling us we're not even out of the university yet? Kid how damn big _is_ this place anyway?'

'Big enough for... me to get lost fifteen times my first week?' Chris suggested, nervously. And also big enough for them not to be able to find their way to where they needed to be. 'C'mon you've... been here before.'

'Never this place,' Knuckles said. 'Which way are we supposed to go now?'

Chris looked around. The energy glare has been easy to see from atop the Jefferson building, but down here it was near impossible to tell which way they should go.

Still, maybe they couldn't _see_ it, but they could certain _hear_ the energy. In fact, the hardest he listened, the more Chris realised that virtually the entire city has been suffused with the faintest of sounds: a quiet, constant whirring that penetrated every surface, barely even noticeable unless you were paying close attention.

'I can... hear it,' he said after a moment, and there was no need to explain what he meant: Knuckles seemed to understand exactly.

'Yeah, me too,' he nodded. 'This whole place... there's Chaos Energy _everywhere_, Chris; it's _insane_. I've never felt its power spread out like this before. And now Sonic is using Chaos Control on top of it, who knows how the city will react...' he gasped irritably. 'Why the hell does that blasted hedgehog never use his _brain_ before doing these things?'

'Because thinking means... _waiting_, I guess,' Chris gasped, thumping his chest in a vague attempt to get his breath back. Then he hesitated, hand still gripping the material over his chest. After all of this, his heart should've been _pounding_, and yet the only thing he could feel was his own breathing.

The world seemed to tremble. The grey walls which seemed to cast a shadow over the whole city, the twinkling green lights of the Master Emerald fragments overhead, causing the grey walls to spread across Station Square... the sensation of Chaos Energy over everyone and everything...

None of this was right at all. Chris glanced down into a gutter at the sound of a tin can rattling with a strange kind of beat. It would shift, then fall still for a few moments, then shift again.

He had seen far too many monster-movies not to have at least a vague idea of what that meant.

Chris took a deep breath, told himself that he was having trouble catching his breath because of all the running and pointed in the direction of a nearby (and seemingly deserted) subway tunnel. 'That way!'

'Whoa, hang on, we— Oh for... crying out _loud_ kid, can't you... slow _down_ for a minute?'

* * *

'Doctor?'

...Damn it all to Chaos.

Those robots always had a way of distracting him when he was in the middle of some Very Deep Thought. Eggman pretended to ignore Decoe for a moment. Surely they could steer a ship into an energy beam on their own without him having to direct them? Besides, he was trying to come up with some serious, reality-affecting concepts and schemes for manipulating their current situation; Bocoe's ramblings were _not_ a welcome intrusion on his thoughts.

'Doctor Eggman, sir? Are you daydreaming again?'

'Don't be a pea brain, of course I'm not,' Eggman snapped, shifting in his chair. 'What do you want already?'

'We just thought you'd like to know, sir, that we're approaching the energy portent—'

'Also known as the huge beam of Chaos Energy right in the middle of the forest,' Bocoe put in.

'Yes that... Just as you asked us to. Also, in the time since we began moving no less than fifteen other energy plumes similar to this one have continued appearing all around this sector of the planet.

'I can already see that.' Eggman muttered, irritably. Couldn't they tell him something remotely _useful_? They were probably overdue for an upgrade, or something. Maybe he'd even take the opportunity to play about with their memory coils and understanding nodes a little. They could use it.

'Well we can also tell you that it appears to be forming a powerful connection between our world, and something outside of our world. It is constructed out of millions of data particles travelling upwards in the direction of the light. Rather like a universal information transfer system.'

'Like... intergalactic email?' Bocoe asked.

'Along the same lines as that, Decoe. It is obviously not designed to transport physical matter such as ourselves, but rather _information_.'

The second robot patted his shiny head in some semblance of thought. There were days when Eggman wished he hadn't programmed them with so many darned human nuances. it had seemed like a good idea, at the time... 'In that case do you really think we should be getting so close to it? I for one do not want to be folded into an intergalactic envelope.'

Eggman grunted to himself, churning over a series of very complicated thoughts while still gazing out of the front viewing window into the beam of heavy white light, growing closer and closer with every second. The readings the Robots had spoken of were scattered all over his screens. And showed the pressure all around them rising steadily.

Whatever this plume of energy was, Eggman thought, it was something not entirely natural... but its formation couldn't possibly have been entirely _planned_, either. The thing was a veritable fountain of pure Chaos Energy, containing more power than he had ever dreamed about (and the doctor knew that his dreams of power were always pretty huge, so that was saying something). And that kind of phenomenon just didn't happen under usual circumstances.

The only time such a large amount of energy was seen in one place, he thought, was when someone was manipulating all seven Chaos Emeralds simultaneously.

So was that what was happening here? He wondered. Was this just something going screwy with Chaos Control?

'Doctor, I know you don't like people questioning your judgements, but something tells me we should not go into that thing.'

'He's right,' Becoe backed his metal companion up. 'We may be crushed into spare parts.'

'Yes; it does not bear thinking about.'

'Well, you two aren't geniuses and I am,' Eggman said, dryly, in a tone usually reserved for small children (not that he often interacted with small children). 'Look at it. That thing has to be over fifty foot wide and countless miles high. The power it's putting out is astronomical and yet we've hardly felt a single tremor from it, no matter how close to it we get, doesn't that tell you something?' He didn't give them time to come up with a (no doubt wrong anyway) response. 'It means that if this thing was going to crush us to a pulp, then the odds were it would've done it already. As it happens I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not going to do us any harm in its present state.'

'But how can you be so sure, Doctor?' Decoe asked.

Eggman paused for a moment before answering; he was remembering the last bit of high-tech machinery he had created with the capacity to transport matter between worlds. 'Call it an extremely intelligent hunch,' he muttered, and that was all he said, as the Eggship continued to drift forwards into the plume of thick, white energy, the world around them seeming to grow brighter and brighter with every passing second.

* * *


	13. Twelve: Glass Sky Reunion

**Sorry about the delay here. Had to rework a few of the chapters, then realised that wasn't working and had to un-rework them. Then had to correct the bits which had gone iffy during the reworking and un-reworking and... Well, you get the idea. Delays all around. But we're here now. Standard disclaimers apply. reviews and concrit are, as ever, appreciated. **

* * *

Twelve.

The sky was totally broken.

That was the only way Sonic could describe it. The instant he called upon the last two Emeralds, the entire landscape had seemed to shift out of focus. Not that it hadn't _already_ looked pretty bizarre and non-focussed to begin with, what with all those silvery walls of nothingness leaking down between bright green lights. But now the scenery around him was seriously taking the cake. It felt kind of like that time Chris had given him these weird green and red 3D goggles in a cinema and the whole world had looked as if it was mixed up and filled with strange colours.

Sonic clenched his fists and turned his body upwards. It only took a single burst of Chaos Energy from the seven Emeralds to propel him high into the air, far above the city until the monster's body looked like nothing more than an oversized smudge on a bed of concrete below.

...Until it decided to follow him. Sonic had no idea how the heck it had managed to use those _threadmetalfleshwhatever_ wings of it's to take off, but it managed, sending the remains of buildings tumbling into the dust as it did so. Sonic thought he saw the outlines of Tails and Amy below; they were too far away for him to be sure, but it looked as if they were running. Good.

The monster spread its eight tendril limbs –no, ten_; _there were at _least_ tennow. Or was it twelve?– and made a sound like an angry mosquito duplicated by a million. Sonic tried not to feel impressed by how _huge_ the thing was. Its body shimmered way up here, so close to the Emerald Fragment overhead, with grey and green slithers of light trailing everywhere and it's flailing limbs piercing the green sky like a huge spider.

Not bad for a freak pieced together out of scraps and garbage.

Sonic figured he'd give it a chance: let it get off just one shot so he could see how powerful it really was. Except that no attack ever came. This was how the two of them remained for ages; two glowing blots of light in a twisted green sky._ A standoff_, Sonic thought.

Eventually, after what felt like half of forever, the creature spoke. Or "spoke" the only way it seemed to know how –by forcing the words straight into Sonic's brain. _**Chaos Control.**_ It said, its excitement like a literal itch in the back of Sonic's head. _**All of it. The power has returned sevenfold. Chaos Creature... This is your potential? **_

'Yeah, shiny isn't it?' Sonic smirked, in spite of the fact that his stomach felt like he'd swallowed a whole can of root beer. While it was still _in_ the can. 'Your call, tough guy. You've seen what I can do with five. Wanna try your luck with all seven?'

The monster didn't seem impressed. _**There had always been Chaos. **_The voice itched again. _**So few can utilise it. So few can **_**feel **_**as you and I now feel. We are born of chaos, you and I. Brothers. **_

Sonic blinked at that. Of all the things this freak could have called him; "brother" had not been on his list. 'Uh... say _what_ now?'

_**Beings of Chaos. Our lives are rewritten by its laws. Just as such: you will be unwritten and destroyed. **_

Oh-kay. Sonic didn't really _get_ a lot of that, but he figured that one threat was just the same as any other, regardless of how many long words it used. 'Yeah, whatever. I'd like to see you try, metal head.'

The mosquito-like buzzing grew stronger, until the only thing louder was the beating of Chaos Energy in Sonic's ears; his own blood flowing. Something wasn't _right_ here, Sonic thought. Well, besides the blindingly obvious (crazy Master Emerald –check, being sucked to another world (again) –check, big creepy monster overrunning the city a la _Godzilla Returns_ –check...) that was. It was as if, in the second he activated the last two emeralds, reality had... changed. Like he was no longer quite attached to the world of Station Square below and yet he wasn't even close to touching on his own world either. The green light all around him seemed suddenly so much brighter. The deep grey of the energy walls seemed darker than anything else he'd ever seen.

But all of the walls, he could now tell, came from a shard of Chaos Emerald.

'Hey... Yeah... That's it, isn't it?' Sonic blinked in realisation, looking back at the monster. 'Those Grey Walls of energy are coming from the pieces of Master Emerald, aren't they? You _did_ something to it; you made it go all dark and creepy on us and break into pieces. And now you're using it to...to...'

To _what_?

Okay, so Sonic hadn't really thought that far ahead. He couldn't for the life of him begin to work out what all these walls were supposed to be _for_.

The beast continued to regard him. It no longer roared or screeched in annoyance or anger. It no longer tried to lash out at him with any one of the –Sonic could now see– dozens of vines and tendrils falling from its heavy body. It merely hung there in mid air, coated in a sickly glow of green and grey light.

_**What they do with the power of the sevenfold is not our concern. **_

Sonic grimaced. 'What they do, eh? And who exactly are "_they_"?'

_**What they **_**do, **the creature repeated with no intention of elaborating.** ...**_**Is a great shame, Being of Chaos. A shame for you to be a Chaos Creature who should not be. Shame that we must destroy you in order to take that Chaos away. **_

'Yeeaah, believe me, buddy, I find that idea even less appealing than you do.' Sonic sucked in a breath, glimpsing at the Fragment in the sky. Whatever those pieces were up to there was no way that they were doing Station Square any good. Which meant he had to find some way to stop this. He didn't have time to waste fighting with freaks.

Sonic looked back at the creature, and then he did something he never thought he'd ever do in a million years. 'So... why don't we talk this thing out, huh?'

There was a pause, silent except for the monster's mosquito-times-a-million wings. 'You know,' Sonic went on. 'Like, you can tell me why you're here and what you're doin' to this place. I don't really care what you think of me, but some good friends of mine live around these parts and I'm not too keen on what's happening to their home. Tell me what you want and why you're attacking everything in sight. _And_ why you keep talking about yourself like there's more than one of ya.' He paused, and when the creature didn't respond, goaded a little further. 'Come on already, this is _boring_. Speak up before I kick your ass back to whatever creepy place you came from!'

Sonic felt a rush of air, hitting him as hard as rock and almost sending him flying out of the sky. It charged at him from somewhere in the creature's direction. The air grew brighter and greener all around them once again. Almost as if the atmosphere was responding to the creature's anger. It took Sonic a moment to realise that the strange, pounding sensation he was feeling was being caused by the vibrations of the creature's voice.

_**Foolish Chaos. All air in your mind. We shall never return to that place. We shall die first. **_It screamed. Then it lashed out, one heavy tendril slashing the air and missing Sonic by millimetres.

Yeah. This was _exactly_ why Sonic never usually tried for chitchat his way out of a bad situation. He had been about to utter a Chaos Control manoeuvre under his breath and launch a responding attack, when there came another sound which stopped him dead in surprise. This one sounded like the rushing of a waterfall mixed with a high pitched musical note. Looking up, Sonic saw the Chaos Fragment still hanging over their heads. The green-grey light it exuded was fading into pure grey, and so, it seemed, was the body of the _notaMetarexbutdamnit'screepyanyway_ monster.

Sonic's scowl deepened; the chaos energy building in his veins, practically crying at him to release it. 'Guess I already know the answer to _one_ of those questions, huh? You want Station Square... _That's_ why you're here: to steal this world's energy using the Master Emerald.'

* * *

This was not proving to be an enjoyable first day on the job.

Alisa Armstrong sighed irritably as she shifted through a gaggle of students, trying in vain to locate one of them in particular. A squad car had arrived three minutes ago, and after grabbing one gobsmacked looking officer and asking him to stay put, Alisa had run off in search of the boy Chris and his peculiar friends.

Obviously, they _weren't_ in the place where she had last left them. Pushing through the crowds however, Alisa discovered that Cream and Helen at least were still standing where they had been earlier, gazing at something in the direction of the building they had emerged from. ("_Forrester_", Alisa remembered Chris informing her. "_Not Prieston_".) Well, better them that no one, Alisa supposed, as she strode towards them.

'Helen, for goodness sakes, where _are_ they?' she snapped, trying not to sound as frazzled as she felt.

Helen looked up, clearly distracted. 'Um... I'm sorry, Alisa?'

Alisa sighed impatiently. 'Christopher Thorndyke and that... Echidna... person... whatever he was!' she said tersely. 'Where did they _go_? I asked you all to stay here! The police have arrived and they're 

going to have questions for...' she trailed off, realising that the two of them were only just paying attention to her and kept glimpsing back towards the other building. 'What're you looking at?'

Helen and the small, rabbit-like little girl looked at each other for a moment, clearly aware of some knowledge Alisa wasn't. 'Nothing,' they said in synchrony. Alisa shook her head, resigning herself to the fact that whatever it was, she'd probably rather not know anyway. 'Sure. Okay. Nothing. Whatever, look, where _are_ they?'

'I think they went to help some friends,' Cream said. 'I'm sure they'll be back soon.'

'Oh really? Well the police officers are here right _now_, and they're going to want to know things: like about that portal you've got in there, as well as how it could've caused all of... _this_,' Alisa cast her hands around at the scenery of baffled students and green-lit sky.

'But Miss Armstrong, you don't _know_ that that's the case,' Helen said, sounding no less edgy than Alisa felt.

'Look, Helen. Did this creature,' Alisa said bluntly, while nodding at Cream, 'or did she _not_ come out of the very portal that I saw upstairs in that Laboratory?'

Helen seemed to draw in a breath. 'Yes. Chris _did_ say that she came out of the portal. But that doesn't mean the portal has anything to _do_ with this.'

'So you're saying that this is all just one big creepy coincidence?'

'Not... necessarily, but it might be,' Helen said, firmly, refusing to back down. 'Chris knows what the consequences of their being in this world might be, Alisa, he's not dumb enough to mess around with that kind of technology.'

'Well obviously he _was_ otherwise _Thorndyke Research Funding_ (which just happens to belong to his _father_) wouldn't have gotten the damn thing installed up there in the first place!' Alisa snapped.

Helen scowled, folding her arms across her chest and Alisa suddenly realised she was _talking down_ to a young girl in a wheelchair. She scolded herself mentally. This probably wasn't the beginning of a good student-tutor relationship.

'Um... Miss Armstrong?' A voice asked quietly. Alisa looked down.

Cream stood before her, and Alisa had to suppress the urge to kneel down so that the kid could look at her without getting a crick in its neck. The only thing Alisa felt she had on her side right now was her sense of authority and when you got down to it, no matter how bizarre she looked, Cream the Rabbit was still a young child.

'We must have caused a lot of trouble,' she said. 'And we're sorry for that, but there's really nothing to be done about it. We didn't _mean_ to come here.'

'Not to mention that I don't think checking out some burned out visual-portal is the police force's main concern right now,' Helen said with forced composure. 'This whole place is in chaos right now – no jokes intended. Can't we can worry about the _how_ later?'

'I think that's right,' Cream agreed. 'I'm sure Chris would be more than happy to talk to the officers later, but they're looking for our friend Sonic right now, and our friends are more important than some silly portal. I don't think you understand that. Besides, we don't have any idea where they ran off to anyway.'

Alisa fixed the small girl in the firmest gaze she could manage. Cream looked back at her, blinking her large, brown eyes and wearing an expression which gave absolutely no indication that she was lying. In fact, Alisa would have to say that she looked nothing but innocent and cute to the point of it being sickening.

Alisa let out a breath. As little as she wanted to admit it, they were probably right.

'Damn it,' Alisa hissed under her breath. 'I'm just... we're all trying to _understand_ what's going on here. They're not making it any easier. If that portal of his is the cause of all this trouble—'

'Oh, man, Miss Armstrong, are you still worked up about that?' someone asked from over her shoulder. Alisa turned to see Francis frowning at her, and speaking with absolutely none of the respect that most students showed their seniors. 'They'll be back _later_ okay? That's not important right now. And Cream, what did you just say about Chris and Knuckles going after Sonic? Are you serious?'

'Wait, you mean Sonic's _here_?' Another voice called –Danny, Alisa realised. He was standing nearby with a trembling girl in a high-school uniform clinging to his arm for dear life, and was obviously in the process of leading her to an ambulance. The girl looked extremely shaken, but when she noticed Cream, her eyes seemed to widen in surprise. Cream waved at her, and the girl waved back with a trembling hand.

Alisa had absolutely no idea why people seemed to be responding to them that way. Why everyone here seemed to know just who and what these creatures were...

She knew all about the stories of "Galaxy X" as the media has dubbed it: reports of beings from another world leaking through into theirs. It had been all over the news while Alisa was in college. She'd even seen a few of those strange bird creatures once, while driving north during her Graduation Celebration.

It had been utterly _insane_ (Alisa, like many people, had even thought the beings' existence to be a hoax, at first), but it was also apparently true. Not only did other worlds exist, but it was also possible for people to _interact_ with them in ways that mankind hadn't even dreamed of. The scientific world (not to mention the social, religious and political ones) had been thrown into uproar. Everything from that moment on had begun to change. She also remembered that the most popular subject of many news reports had been a super fast blue hedgehog (and god, that would never _stop_ sounding ridiculous to her) who swept the city of Station Square off her feet and became the idol of elementary school kids everywhere (not to mention grown adults).

Then after a year or so, the creatures had simply vanished. The news reports became less and less frequent, and yet at the same time people working in the scientific industry were growing evermore intrigued by portal technology and intergalactic theories. Then of course the first practical portal had been developed by the Thorndyke Scientific Foundation right here in Station Square and...

Well... It seemed to Alisa that, in some way, the arrival and the eventual disappearance of the Creatures from "Galaxy X" had changed her world in ways she hadn't yet been able to understand.

And now, standing here with a smiling little girl who just happened to have rabbit ears and eyes far too big to be natural, Alisa couldn't see what was so remarkable about them. As a matter of fact, she couldn't help but find them a little bit... disturbing.

Alisa shivered and turned to look at Helen. 'Look, I know I seem like I'm being some nagging old grouch here, but this is _important_. I mean, look around you!'

'I can see what's happening just as well as anyone else,' Helen said firmly, and with a sternness she was far too young for. 'I don't need to have it pointed out.'

'We understand Miss Armstrong,' Cream said. 'It's been a very strange day for all of us really, hasn't it? But things will happen the way they happen, and I don't think the policemen can really do anything right now.' She looked away after saying this. 'Did you make a new friend, Danny?'

Danny squeezed the scared looking high school girl's shoulders. 'Yeah sorta. This one got a little close to the wall, didn't ya? Knelt down to tie up her shoelace and the next thing she knows –_bam_! One of those huge sheets of energy came down and caught her foot. Hurt something awful, right?'

The girl nodded shakily though she seemed to be responding on impulse. Glimpsing down at the girl's foot, Alisa saw with horror that it seemed to be made of nothing more than grey clay sculpted onto the flesh of her ankle, her shoe and sock crumbling away like old paper. The girl muttered something about 'the sky not looking right.'

'Yeah, we noticed,' Danny smiled. 'Just a little Magic Emerald freakiness, though. I'm sure we'll get it fixed up soon enough, right Cream?'

Alisa blinked in surprise at the idea of a six foot man like Danny asking a timid little rabbit... _thing_ for advice, but Cream simply nodded. 'Of course not,' she said, reassuringly. 'Our friend Sonic will be here soon. He always knows just how to fix things like this. What's your name?

The girl gazed at Cream for a second before whispering. '...Clara.'

'Clara. That sounds a little bit like mine.' Cream said cheerfully. 'My name is Cream. Don't you think they sound alike?' She reached out a hand. 'Come with me, Clara. There's a Doctor giving people stuff to help with where the walls touched them.'

Hesitating only to offer Danny a quiet "thank you" the girl reached out and took Cream's gloved hand in her own. Alisa shook her head as the limping girl was lead away, Cream chattering the entire time about how things would be alright.

Helen looked at Danny and began asking him about his classmates. Had she not known it to be true, Alisa could never have imagined where Helen had been less than an hour earlier: That she had been submerged within of one of the things which turned that high school girl's foot into something with the consistency of lumpy paper, and yet had emerged from it utterly unharmed.

Be damned if that Thorndyke kid and these strange aliens didn't have something to do with it.

Alisa didn't have long to dwell on this uncomfortable thought before another example of just how weird things were in Station Square was forthcoming. The sky in the distance –she figured it was about half a mile away– had lit up with an even brighter glare of green. The concrete world around them shuddered and Alisa was reminded of a movie she saw once about dinosaurs. The way ripples of water spreading across the surface of a glass had signalled the coming of a tyrannosaurus. That was what Alisa sensed right now: something huge and terrible was out there.

Great. Just great. _Now_ what was she going to have to deal with?

Nearby, Alisa saw the high school girl stumble and Helen's hands shot up to cover her heart. That girl _knew_ something, Alisa realised with a jolt. In fact maybe she knew more than any of them did about everything. 'Helen,' she asked, firmly. 'Have you seen something like this before?'

Helen nodded, still staring at the distant brightness which now had the crowd muttering uneasily all around them. Alisa wondered if Helen was trembling inwardly just the same way that she was. 'This? Yes, I saw it... Just once,' Helen said quietly. 'That kind of light comes from Chaos Control.'

* * *

Damn it, this was _not_ the way he'd planned on spending his evening.

Not that it was evening in _this_ world right now (with all the green lights and grey air it was difficult to tell), and not that he'd actually _had_ any plans in the first place (at least not until Cream had shown up with a hamper), but chasing a beam of light through Station Square in a bid to pinpoint its origin while the fragments of the Master Emerald turned the whole place into a living energy trap? No. This was not Knuckles the Echidna's idea of a good time.

Besides, it didn't help that he kept on _seeing_ things. The same images in his head that the Master Emerald had shown him before it broke apart and sent them here: bright green eyes and a glowing ring and furniture lying wrecked in a large room. They were only brief, but they were as clear as day, just like the visions once shown to him by the chaos emeralds.

Knuckles clenched his fists a little tighter as he ran. If those images didn't get out of his head soon he was going to have to start punching things. This wasn't the time for him to be dwelling on vague thoughts and incomprehensible hallucinations.

Knuckles knew better than anyone that (despite the fact that he'd been keeping watch over an incredible source of prophetic energy his entire life) deep contemplation was _not_ his thing. If a problem couldn't be solved by simply punching the cause into the event horizon, then Knuckles would have to spend a good few hours alone in solemn thought about it, go off somewhere and punch some stuff anyway and _then_ try to come up with a solution.

Right now he didn't have time for that. Too many things had happened at once and he was barely able to keep up with them. This was exactly like the first time he had been pulled into Chris's world (except without the sewer and associated smells). And now the Master Emerald was in pieces, Sonic was causing chaos in the middle of a city they weren't even supposed to be _in_ right now, and Christopher Thorndyke hadn't stopped running, or even slowed down since they left the University Grounds.

Knuckles had no idea where the kid was getting his energy. He suspected it was something to do with Sonic: Chris could probably bash down the same kind of walls as Knuckles if he thought it would help that hedgehog. Knuckles had to admit that he could understand the kid's urgency. He felt it too: the strange sensation in his stomach that things all around them were about to go to hell (or _more_ to hell than they already were, anyway), and that Sonic was right in the middle of it.

Then again, Sonic was _always _right in the middle of it.

They stopped in the middle of a deserted street near what Knuckles thought was the centre of the city. 'Can... You see it?' Chris gasped, clutching at his chest with one hand.

Knuckles took a deep breath, tried to ignore the fact that his muscles were cramping (Chaos damn it, what kind of Guardian was affected by something as ridiculous as _muscle_ _spasms _anyway?) and looked around. All he could see were buildings and a nearby ornamental tree. He could make out the light they had been running towards, but it was hard to tell exactly where it was with so many structures in the way.

Knuckles shook his head. 'No good... We need to be up higher if we're going to see anything now.'

_Too close, and yet not close enough_, he thought dryly. Whatever Sonic was up to over there, it wasn't good. He looked at Chris, who was standing half cast in shadows nearby. He looked ghostly, Knuckles realised. Like a phantom caught out in the daylight. After a moment Knuckles realised that _he_ must look exactly the same as Chris did –cast in green light and picked out by the shadows of the city.

Of course ghosts didn't usually have to gasp for breath like that. 'Chris? You alright?'

'F-Fine,' Chris stammered, still clutching his chest with one hand. Knuckles didn't believe him, but he wasn't given a chance to comment. Chris looked up, gazing at something directly above and behind them. 'That.. .that office over there,' Chris said. 'It's my dad's...'

'So?' Knuckles asked, failing to see the relevance. 'Kid, I'm pretty sure he's been evacuated like everyone else.'

'N-no, I mean...' Chris pointing over his shoulder. 'Last time I checked, it was _twenty-seven_ _storeys_ high.'

Knuckles turned his head in the direction Chris's thumb was jabbing. His heart sank. Yeah. It definitely _looked_ like twenty-seven stories. 'Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me.'

'Well you just said we need a good vantage point,' Chris said, and he was running towards the office block before Knuckles could protest. He watched the boy racing away from him for a second, before shaking his head and following.

...Well, _someone_ had to keep an eye on him.

* * *

'Chaos Control!' Sonic screamed for the third time in a space of a few minutes, raising his hands in defence against what he figured was going to be another attack of flailing arms.

And then the world broke into pieces.

Or that as what it _felt _like, anyway. The shifting-reality sensation returned, and this time the atmosphere around him changed so suddenly that it was as if someone had flashed a thousand 

cameras in his face at once. Or he'd burst from the Sonic Power Cannon with his eyes wide open. Or a nearby rainbow had exploded.

Whichever description you wanted to use, the basic explanation was that it was really, _really_ bright, and it _hurt_. Sonic winced, then gasped, and when he opened his eyes again, the sky seemed to have fractured like glass. The burst of energy and power which usually flowed through him when he yelled the words "_Chaos Control_" never came. Or rather it _did_ come, but in totally the wrong way and completely the wrong direction.

Then he felt the tugging. Something like invisible threads pulling hard at his heart and chest and pretty much everywhere else. The monster hung before him, unmoving but for its beating wings, and Sonic realised what was happening. '_The Chaos Emeralds... It wants them too._'

_**The seven servers,**_ the voice in Sonic's head said, calmly. _**You must give them up Chaos Creature.**_

_Yeah, right_, Sonic thought. _Over my dead body_.

Which was actually starting to feel like a possibility. The Chaos Emeralds were _burning_ him. They were _angry_. They had _never_ been angry with him before. The greenness overhead grew strong enough to hurt through closed eyelids. His body changed from gold, to blue then grey, then back to gold, then blue again. The sensation of the chaos emeralds tore at him as they fought to get away and separate themselves from him.

It was through some incredible force of pride that Sonic managed to yell: 'What are... you... doing?!'

_**I do nothing. They take back what is theirs. The Master calls to them.**_

'_N-No. Not theirs. The Chaos Emeralds don't... belong to... anyone. They sure as hell don't belong to you!' _And the Master Emerald wouldn't do something like this, Sonic told himself through the ripping pain and anger. It _wouldn't_. Not that stone he had spent the last year talking to about his missing friends. Not the thing which had helped keep them alive all that time in space.

Something was _wrong_. He couldn't let the Master Emerald take back the Seven Servers. Not now, no matter how painful it was. And yeah –that was _pretty_ damn painful. In fact, it was only his desperation to hang onto the Seven Chaos with every fibre of his being that meant he was able to stay airborne.

_**You use them. They are not yours to use. Chaos Creature should have anticipated. All with Chaos Control engage in this struggle, and their will is greater than your own.**_

'_What... are you... talking about?!' _

_**You do not know, brother? You should. You have encountered such struggles before. The battle for Chaos Control is an eternal one, waged since the beginning of the worlds themselves. **_

Oh, to _hell_ with this.

Sonic pulled back and made to fly down to ground level, but the green light of the Emerald fragment overhead seemed to be clinging onto him and refusing to let him move. It was too late now to realise that the Monster had forced him into a trap – he was close enough for the Master Emerald to exert a pull on the Seven Chaos, and now it was using that power to drag them out of Sonic's body.

And yeah, not only would this mean that a potentially really badass bad guy was getting its hands (or whatever) on one of the most powerful sources of energy in the universe, but there would also be the small problem of Sonic _falling_ over three hundred feet once the emeralds were taken from him and he no longer had the power of flight.

_**Enough**_. The creature said, and when Sonic managed to open his eyes long enough to look at it, he could see that it's many limbs seemed to be... withering. Crumbling away as easily as they had appeared. The sound of clattering metal and creaking wood filled the air again as the monster began to disintegrate.

'_Is _that_ what it wanted?' _Sonic thought, alarmed._ 'Was it just trying to get me up here and keep me busy? And then _die_?' _

_**The task has been done. I say again, brother. It is a shame.**_

'No!' Sonic yelled. But it was already too late. A glimmer of bright blue glistened in front of his eyes for a moment and then winked out of sight. It was closely followed by a glare of cyan, and a glimmer of yellow... He felt the Emeralds being dragged away from him, like somebody sucking the blood straight out of his body.

When he replayed the events later in his mind, Sonic would edit out his cry. He reached out a hand as he saw the seventh and final chaos emerald appear before him, gripping it tightly in both fists, trying to ignore the fact that it felt like there was no circulation in any of his limbs anymore.

There was a small advantage to the loss of the other Emeralds: It was easier to hang onto one of them than it had been to hang onto all seven and this, along with the fact that he was losing air mobility fast, aided Sonic in pulling the final Emerald away from the Shard overhead. The sky seemed to break all over again as the connection between the last Chaos Emerald and the Master Emerald failed. The pain lessened immediately. The other six Emeralds were nowhere to be seen.

Sonic did what came most naturally to him then, even without his feet touching the ground –he ran, shooting back towards the buildings below, struggling to steer himself with the power of only a single Chaos Emerald in his grasp and his whole body prickling with pins and needles.

Then a sheet of blackness charges past his eyes –there was the monster again: it had swept like a tornado through the sky and put itself between Sonic and the ground, huge, fibre wings outstretched and body still crumbling to pieces. It spread its disintegrating body and screamed. The sound of a thousand mosquitoes.

Sonic tried not to look freaked out. It took all of his power just to keep his Chaos Control level up high enough to stay airborne with one Emerald. _That crazy freak! It's falling apart, why does it keep _following_?!_

_**One more. **_The beast said, calmly, not seeming to care about its decaying body. _**That is theirs also. You shall not keep it. **_

Y-yeah? Sonic yelled, with a lot more bravado than he felt. 'Who's gonna stop me?'

_**It is my task to do so. **_The creature said.

Sonic grinned, only half genuinely. 'Oh, r-_really_? Then I guess you didn't do your job so well.' He clutched the Last Chaos Emerald tightly, trying to draw strength from its presence and ignore the fact that he let the other six go. ('_Aw, _damnit_, Knuckles is gonna go crazy when he hears about this_...') 'S-still got this, haven't I? And you look like you're about going to pieces over it, buddy.'

Okay, he had _so_ totally earned the right to make that joke. And anyway Sonic knew he was right. The creature's last remaining limb crumbled even as it reached out towards him. All of its earlier fight and rage had gone, and it looked nowhere near as imposing now that its body was falling away from it in shells of metal, trailing tendrils, broken stone, steel cabling and rotting plastic.

It couldn't hurt him now, so Sonic didn't feel too concerned about taking his eyes off it for a second when he caught a glimpse of something moving on a nearby rooftop.

Something was down there which hadn't been a moment ago. Something which seemed to break right through the pain and fractured lines of his vision, as clear as crystal. No, Sonic realised after another moment and another blink. Not some_thing_. Some_one, _standing on top of the tallest building and looking straight at him from beneath the shadow of the monster.

From _directly_ beneath it.

The monster seemed to twist, it's withered face and neck following the line of Sonic's gaze. Then its endless eyes flickered back to Sonic, enraged. When it spoke, its voice was crackling and broken, like a dying radio. _**Th... Chaos Creatu... is no...t alone. **_

Sonic knew that the figure standing on the rooftop below was only whispering –he could see his mouth moving, even from this distance– and yet Sonic could still hear a voice in his head as clear as if the figure were shouting. He knew who it belonged to.

'..._Sonic_?'

_Chris. _

It was Chris.

It _had_ to be Chris. Who the heck _else_ would be standing atop a thirty story building in the middle of Station Square, less than fifty feet away when Sonic the Hedgehog was in an aerial battle? Sonic blinked hard, the final Chaos Emerald almost slipping in his fingers in his surprise. Then he started clutching it tighter again as he realised that, Chris or not, the person seemed utterly and totally unaware that he was standing right under five hundred tons of shattering junkyard monster that could crush him and that entire building to a pulp in less than twenty seconds.

Sonic moved with all the speed of his namesake. The last of the Chaos Energy bursting through his body like an electric shock as he pushed himself between the crumbling monster and the boy atop the building. There wasn't much of it left, he realised even as he fired. Maybe not enough to keep the both of them safe, but giventhe alternative...

For a second, the human's expression came rapidly into focus; his eyes wide and torn between confusion, fear and joy. It was stupid, but the first thing Sonic thought to say was "Hey there, kid, what's with the weird threads again?" The second thing (and the thing which actually came out of his mouth as he grabbed Chris's shoulders and shoved him down against the concrete rooftop) was a 

very loud "_Chaos Control_!' as he called on every last scrap of Chaos Energy he still had in his body, and fired directly over their heads.

The monster's body shattered into pieces, and even as it finally –_for real, at last_– died away, Sonic thought he heard it muttering, in an amused –and almost... _hopeful_– voice.

_**Chaos Creature you are indeed. There will always be more battles. **_

* * *


	14. Thirteen: Unlucky For Some

**Sorry about the delay. Have had some serious computer-access issues for the last few weeks, and am still in the process of rewriting certain bits of this. Standard disclaimers apply. reviews and concrit are appreciated. **

* * *

Thirteen. 

The Thorndykes were, to use a metaphor, "not a family who let a few bad connections screw up the entire computer".

This was less a family motto and more something which Charles Thorndyke (known to most people as simply "Chuck") had decided after the his son was born. He would not allow his family to grow up expecting someone else to fix every little problem they came up against for them. If you wanted something from this world, then you shouldn't beg for it, or complain about its absence: you should damn well go out there and get it for yourself. Previously, the family motto had been "Correct study answers all unknowns" or something like that, and Chuck figured this was the same thing, merely updated for a modern era.

This attitude had clearly paid off over the years, and had attracted likeminded company. Chuck himself was a highly respected scientist and engineer, his son ran a successful computer company, his son-in-_law_ was amongst the most admired (if foolhardy and thrill-seeking) members of the local law enforcement. His daughter-in-law was a famous actress, and his grandson was the only person on the planet to successfully construct a Dimensional Portal capable of transporting people between two worlds which _didn't_ run on Chaos Energy.

Well, okay, so it hadn't actually _worked_ since the initial transfer and they had nothing but his word and a few sensor readings to say that it had ever really worked _at all_, but Chuck believed in his grandson. If anyone could've successfully created a portal like that, then it was Chris.

...Which was exactly why Chuck was so worried right now, as he drove through crowded byways (or rather, shifted steadily from one traffic jam to another) trying to work out the quickest route to the centre city which _hadn't_ been blocked off by strange walls or police patrol units. Something had happened here, and Chuck had little doubt that Chris had something to do with it.

Chuck pushed down on the accelerator impatiently, though the 5 kilometres per hour trail of traffic wasn't going anywhere quickly. If only it weren't for all these damned walls blocking every route, he could've been there half an hour ago... Well, Station Square was nothing if not quick to respond to a crisis.

More than just being irritating however, the walls were also without a doubt the most bizarre structures that Chuck had seen in all his sixty two years of life –they couldn't be manmade, and yet they couldn't possibly be natural either. It was impossible to tell, either from close up or far away, whether they were made of liquid or solid matter and their colouring was strange and dense –dark grey and firm from a distance and translucent and foggy from up close. Each wall also seemed to hang like curtains from a spider's web of green lines and bright, star-like dots of light snaking across the sky.

'_Very _familiar_ green light, too.'_ Chuck shuddered. His inner scientist was telling him that this was not the wisest course of action: he'd probably only be causing further trouble by heading _into_ town rather than out of it. Nelson and Chris were both perfectly capable of looking after themselves, and

Chuck knew that his talents would be better served in his laboratory, trying to work out what the heck was causing all of this.

But to hell with science. His family wasn't _in_ the lab: they were (most of them) right in the middle of this darn city, cut off from all forms of communication. (Not that it would've done him any good if the phone lines _had _been working; Chris never had his cellular phone turned on anyway. He said that it would "interfere with delicate scientific equipment". Like heck –Chuck had his own cell phone switched on every day of his life while working at his home lab, and the machinery in there had only ever exploded once. Or maybe twice.)

Whatever the case, family was more important to Chuck than some crazy light source. Family would always be more important. Besides, he had a feeling about all this... Something was going on here and the more young-at-heart side of Chuck Thorndyke's mind wanted to be a part of it, not stuck in a laboratory just _watching_ it all happen.

This was what Chuck was thinking when he saw the beam of golden light in the distance, strong enough that its glare penetrated several of the walls. Motorists on all sides of him began muttering in alarm, without the faintest idea what it was they were gasping about. A few people leapt from their cars in panic –probably mistaking it as a nuclear blast or something – but soon calmed down once they realised they weren't blind and the light beam was neither exploding nor getting any bigger.

Chuck began to mutter through his teeth. 'Well I'll be damned, what in the name of heaven...' before he realised that he knew _exactly_ what in the name of heaven it was. That beam was being caused by Chaos Energy, without a doubt.

Chuck sighed impatiently and gave the accelerator a kick out of spite. Well, at least no one could ever say that being a Thorndyke was boring.

* * *

The effect of the monster falling apart was similar to that of a colossal 'Badnik turning inside out. In other words: really messy, really dangerous, and really, _really_ noisy. The whole world quaked (or at least it felt like the whole world) and Tails could think of nothing to do except grab Amy, pull her to the ground and block his ears, hoping that they weren't in anything's path.

Luckily, they weren't, and a few minutes later the tremors faded and Tails was able to lift his head. 'Um... wow. Amy? You okay?'

There was a silence before Amy finally squeaked. '...Y-yeah. I think so. I expect my dress is ruined but... I'm good.'

'Okay...' he sighed, using his tails to brush the dust off his back before looking around. He had no idea what that crazy light show in the air had been about (fluctuations in Chaos Control due to the Master Emerald playing this crazy game with them, maybe? Or after effects from their unexpected arrival in this world, perhaps?), but whatever it was it hadn't helped Station Square's architecture very much.

The city was a mess of smashed glass, debris and what seemed like the contents of an entire junkyard. And normally that wouldn't be so bad: Tails liked junkyards; you could find all kinds of neat 

stuff in them, but there wasn't supposed to _be_ one _here_, just as there wasn't supposed to be tonnes of rubble and huge walls of grey energy. At least there was no further sign of the monster (unless you counted the pieces of it scattered all around them). Sonic's Chaos Control had done its job.

'What the heck is going on round here?' Tails murmured, shaking his head.

'You're the smart one, Tails, why don't you tell _me_?' Amy groaned, brushing off her dress as she staggered to her feet. 'It's like Night of the Living Junkyard or something... Wait, where's Sonic?!' She glimpsed from side to side, trying to spot the golden blur of Super Sonic's presence. Less than a minute earlier he had been bursting through the green-grey sky with the surprisingly fast and agile junkyard-monster in hot pursuit, but now there was no sign of him.

For a moment or two Tails felt nervousness eating at his stomach. Amy, for her part, surpassed nervous immediately and began yelling Sonic's name into the sky as loudly as she could. 'Sonic? Sonic are you out there? Hey, you'd better not be under all of that, Sonic! Sonic? SOOONIC!'

Tails shook his head. He wasn't sure which was louder –the crashing sound as the Monster fell to pieces or Amy's bellowing. 'Amy _relax_, I'm sure he's fine.'

'Of course he's fine, he's _Sonic_!' Amy snapped, though she didn't sound entirely sure of that. Tails wondered if they _all_ felt a little less assured of Sonic's immortality these days. 'But then where _is_ he? A few seconds ago he was up there in the sky, and then weird things started happening and... Oh if he's gone and gotten himself smooshed under all that rubble then I'll—'

Whatever Amy would've done to Sonic for "getting smooshed under all that rubble" however, Tails would never know, because her sentence was interrupted by a noise atop a nearby building. A heap of metal and stone was shoved upwards and swept away by a bubble of green light rising and bursting underneath it. The rubble fell thirty stories down and crashed nearby, sending plumes of dust flying everywhere.

Then the bubble faded away with a flicker, and the air was still for a few seconds before Amy let out a sigh of relief.

'Yeah, I think he's fine,' Tails smiled.

* * *

This was becoming something of a habit.

After the crashing metal and the falling buildings and the sensation of his body being slammed against concrete (and had he _really_ heard that creepy evil laughter just now or was he imagining things?) the first thing Chris noticed was the bright green sky hanging over his head, and the fact that he could still _see_. This meant that whatever that incredible blazing light had been just now, it hadn't done him any visual damage. He could be grateful for that at least.

He was _not_ so grateful for the heavy weight located somewhere in the middle of his chest. Which kind of _hurt_, though not nearly as much as he imagined being squashed by a falling scrap heap would've. He had a vague recollection of a portal opening, of racing across the university courtyard, running up flight after flight of stairs... then there was the sensation of someone shoving him down, a mountain of metal falling from the sky, and now...

'Whoa. Some landing...' came a mutter. The weight on his chest moved. '...Chris? Chris, that is you right?' Someone tugged at his hair. 'Messy hair, clothes too big for him, good at getting in the way of trouble... _gotta_ be you. Buddy, say something!'

Chris _tried_ to oblige, he really did, but owing to the heaviness currently crushing his diaphragm, all he could manage was a strangled: 'Ngh!'

'Oh, whoops.' The voice said. Then the weight was gone and Chris could breathe again. He eased himself up, blinking repeatedly at the sight of the blue individual now crouched before him. 'You know you humans aren't as squishy to land on as Knuckles is, pal. Sorry about that but it was either me on top of ya or the monster.'

Chris opened his mouth to ask exactly how the heck Sonic could have known what it felt like to land on Knuckles and what he meant by "monster", then he stopped both questions dead in their tracks. His brain caught up with his body at about the same time his lungs caught up with all the air they'd just been missing out on: 'S...Sonic?'

'The one and only.' Sonic grinned. 'Not sure if I'm _supposed_ to be here exactly... The Master Emerald seems to have a mind of its own today. Heck, _all _of theChaos Emeralds do. You won't _believe_ what just happened up there, Chris, you... Ah... actually, never mind; you probably _will_ believe it.'

Definitely Sonic. _Not_ just a dream or some whacked out Chaos-Energy induced hallucination. Chris could feel himself grinning, uncertain whether or not to laugh; almost feeling like he had to without entirely knowing why. 'But... we were just... and I... you... _Sonic_?'

'Yeeeah, we established that already, kid, catch up.' Sonic chuckled, scratching behind one ear and looking up into the sky. 'You know you've really gotta be more careful. I've been here for like, five minutes and you've _already_ nearly gotten yourself pulverised... I guess what's done is done, though –whatever that was– so we'd better get used to it, right?' He smiled again. It seemed just like that same smile which Chris had first seen dripping with chlorinated water at the edge of a swimming pool. For a long moment, that was all that he could really take in –just the sight and sensation of Sonic's _thereness_, bright blue and shocking uncoordinated with the green-grey sky.

He didn't notice at first, that Sonic was shaking. Which was no surprise really, because Sonic the Hedgehog? _Shaking_? That just didn't happen. Sonic never so much as _flinched_, unless you stuck him in icy water. Chris reached out a hand to check (both for shaking, and for Sonic's tangibility), but Sonic pulled away before he could make contact, still grinning as if nothing could be wrong despite the fact that something obviously _was_. If not with him, then at least with their situation. 'So anyway, good to see ya. How's it going?'

'You mean "how's it going considering all of _this_"?' Chris grinned. And then he did something which surprised him more than anything else had so far today (and that was a pretty big list to top): He laughed. Loudly. In spite of the dagger-like sensation which kept lancing through his chest every few seconds; in spite of the fact that he'd just nearly been crushed by a falling monster; in spite of the fact that Sonic had knocked pretty much all of the air out of his lungs; Chris _laughed_.

'Uh... sure. Considering.' Sonic frowned, clearly not sure what Chris found so amusing. 'You _sure_ you're okay?'

Chris tried to answer but found it difficult, given that he was still laughing fit to burst. And it wasn't his usual laugh. Maybe that had something to do with having all the air forced out of him, but still, the laugh itself felt...different.

'Hey, seriously,' Sonic took a step back. 'Cut it out. Man, first Knuckles, then Tails and now you, Chris, is _everyone_ trying to creep me out with the weirdness today?'

'S-sorry,' Chris sniggered as soon as he could control his lungs again. 'It's just... It's so _ridiculous_! One minute I'm thinking today can't possibly get any weirder... and then I'm being... _smothered_ by a giant blue hedgehog.'

'Speak for yourself, Chris; _I've_ just been talking to a crazy living junk pile.' Sonic looked uneasy. 'And uh... not that I wanna put a downer on your creepily good mood here, but we have another problem. It... Kinda took the Chaos Emeralds.'

Chris stopped laughing abruptly. 'It... what?'

'You heard me, pal. One minute I had 'em and the next...' Sonic clicked his fingers. Then he held up one emerald: the green one, clutching it tightly. 'This is the only one I could hang onto. Those Emerald Fragments are up to something. They just ripped them away from me.'

'Then they _are_ pieces of the Master Emerald,' Chris murmured. Only something as powerful as the Master Emerald could exert such control over the Seven Chaos. 'But... I don't get it. Why did it want the Chaos Emeralds? And what the heck _was_ that thing anyway?'

'Beats me, but keep an eye on those heaps of scrap. It's already regenerated from one blast of Chaos Control, so we'd better hope it isn't gonna pull the same trick twice.'

'Even if it does, you can take it, can't you?' Chris asked, looking down at the metal and stone heaped all around them. 'I mean, you just blew it away with only one Emerald...'

Sonic scratched his nose. 'Not _exactly_... Y'see, for some reason it was already falling apart when I got to you. It's almost like it just up and destroyed itself once it knew they had what they wanted.'

'They?' Chris frowned. 'Who're _they_?'

'That's what I'd like to know,' Sonic said. He sounded serious, and that alone was cause for concern. "Sonic" and "serious" weren't usually words you found together in the same sentence unless the word "not" had been strategically positioned between them. 'It's kinda weird, though. Even that last blast there felt like more Chaos Control than I thought I had _left_ in me. We're really lucky I could protect us both.' He winced. 'Aw, man, Knuckles isn't gonna be happy about this.'

'Knuckles isn't... going to be... happy about... _what_?' came a sudden voice from behind them.

Its demanding tone probably would've been a lot more intimidating if it hadn't sounded like its owner had just completed a triathlon. Chris and Sonic both turned to see Knuckles, who had just made it to the top of the twenty seven flights of stairs that made up the Thorndyke Head Office and emerged from the rooftop doorway behind them.

'Hey Knuckles, what kept you?' Chris said.

'Don't you get... smart mouthed with me, kid.' Knuckles gasped. 'Just ran up... twenty seven damn stories... Think they'd have the... sense to fit an elevator or something.'

'Actually they did,' Chris said. 'But I didn't think it'd be a good idea to use it, what with all those quakes. It probably wouldn't have been safe.'

'Oh for... pities sakes. _Now_ he... tells me.'

'Hey whatever happened to the good ol' Knuckles who scaled mountains with nothing but his bare claws?' Sonic grinned. 'All that time you spent sitting around in space must've softened you up, buddy.'

'Oh... don't you start!' Knuckles snapped. 'I can still... take you, you know. Muscle spasms or no muscle spasms. And is anyone going to tell me what... in the world just happened here?'

'Up here?' Sonic blinked innocently. 'Oh, well that... wasn't much. Just your standard giant monster made out of junk and stuff tearing up the middle of town an' ranting about power. I already stopped it. Mostly.'

Knuckles raised an eyebrow accusingly. 'Mostly? What do you mean you _mostly_?'

Sonic and Chris looked at each other. 'Well uh... Hey, you know that great time we had out in space a few months back?' Sonic coughed. 'With the Metarex melees and all those different planets and the massive search for seven itty bitty stones in a galaxy the size of... well, a galaxy?'

'I recall that the trip was an absolute fiasco, which wouldn't have been half as complicated as it was had you thought to keep a hold of them in the first pla...' Knuckles trailed off suddenly realising what Sonic was getting at. '...Sonic, _tell me_ you still have the Chaos Emeralds.'

'Okay, I still have the Chaos Emerald.'

'You _liar_!'

'Hey, easy, Knuckles, it's okay,' Sonic raised his hands in defence. 'Look, the creepy green stuff didn't suck up _all_ of them: I still have this one.'

Knuckles wore the expression of a person not sure whether he should be pounding someone senseless or screaming at the stratosphere. Chris felt himself shuffling aside, instinctively trying to put as much distance between him and the two other worlder's as possible. '_You_...You're trying to tell me that this... _monstrosity_ which is twisting the power of the Master Emerald for its own foul means now also possesses six out of the seven Chaos Emeralds, too?! Damn it, Sonic, I amgoing to hand you your own a—!'

'Guys!' Chris interrupted. 'C'mon, don't start fighting _now_, that's not going to get them back.'

'No but it'll make me feel better!' Knuckles bellowed. 'For goodness _sakes_, hedgehog, are you trying to break some kind of a record for idiocy or do you just _enjoy_ spreading the most powerful artefacts known to Echidna-kind out across the universe?!'

'Oh, come _on_, it's not _that_ bad. They're not spread across the _entire_ _universe_ this time.' Sonic scratched his head. 'I mean, I'm pretty sure they're all still on this planet at least.'

'Oh wonderful,' Knuckles snapped. 'Just _fantastic_. So they're all somewhere on this planet, huh? Or maybe they're all right over our _heads_, being warped and twisted in the same way as the Master before them!'

Sonic blinked. 'Oh... yeah... I hadn't thought about that. But it isn't like I did this on purpose. The sky just went weird all of a sudden. I swear one minute I was up there going 'Super and the next something had a hold of me like... I don't know, like...'

'A magnet?' Chris suggested anxiously.

'Yeah, exactly.' Sonic's already large eyes seemed to widen in realisation. 'It's like that thing set a trap for me.'

'And of course you blundered right into it without thinking, as usual!' Knuckles snapped. He looked about ready to pound something, then all of that restrained anger seemed to drain away and he sighed and slumped down next to Chris. 'Just when I think it can't possibly get any worse. Somehow you always manage to exceed my expectations, Sonic.'

'Oh c'mon, cut me some slack; it came at me outta nowhere!' Sonic looked at Chris expectantly. 'You believe me, right, Chris?'

'Sure I do, Sonic,' Chris let out a breath and finally allowed himself to wonder just what in the heck had just happened. 'I just don't know what we're going to do about all of this, that's all. First all this _weird_ stuff starts happening, the Master Emerald goes berserk, and then you guys show up... I just don't understand what you're all doing here.'

'Well neither do we, buddy, but we're here,' Sonic said, shrugging. 'That's what counts, right?'

That was true, Chris thought. They were here, and if anyone could help work out exactly what was going on around here, then surely they could. 'Yeah... I guess we'll just have to work it out together won't we?' He managed half a smile. '_If_ you and Knuckles can keep from beating on each other for a while, that is.'

'Look, I hate to break up the scene, but can we save it?' Knuckles muttered irritably. 'Right now? We should be getting off this building. You know. Before the _rest_ of it collapses?'

'Juuust a sec,' Sonic said. 'There's no hurry, right?'

'No _hurry_?' Knuckles repeated, derisively.' Oh sure, if you call six Chaos Emeralds being missing and an entire city thrown into turmoil _nothing to hurry about!_'

'I'm serious,' Sonic said calmly. 'It's a nice view up here. And when we do go down I'll have to face Amy and whatever all the dust I just kicked up has done to her dress.'

As if instructed by perfect celestial timing, there came a sound rather like someone calling to them from deep inside a drain, or from very far below. Mostly because it _was_ coming from far below, Chris realised after a moment or two: a loud, high pitched echo coming from nearly thirty stories beneath them.

'_Sonic! _Soooonic_! Sonic, will you get _down_ here!'_

Sonic yelped, skirting a few feet away from the building's edge. Knuckles smirked, and Chris grinned, choking back another burst of laughter.

'Uh, speaking of Amy,' he smiled. 'That sounds exactly like her.'

'Yeeeah it sure does,' Sonic rubbed his ear and Chris swore he could see his blue friend gulping. 'And she doesn't sound too happy with us.'

'You mean she doesn't sound too happy with _you_,' Knuckles corrected. '_We_ have nothing whatsoever to do with it.'

'Aw, _c'mon_ guys...' Sonic muttered. Then he winced again at the sound of another yell.

'Sooonic_! Come on, I _know_ you're up there!'_

'I'm serious,' Knuckles said. 'Why, we haven't even seen her since we arrived here, isn't that right, Chris? Whatever has gotten her so upset is probably entirely Sonic's fault as usual.'

'She's probably annoyed that you got her all worried about you for nothing, Sonic,' Chris suggested, trying to be helpful, though Sonic didn't seem to find his input very useful at all.

'You're not gonna make me face this alone, are ya?' He squeaked.

As if in answer, Amy's voice echoed back over the rooftops. '..._**Sonic the Hedgehog**__! If you don't get down here right now, I'm coming _up_ there and I'm bringing my _hammer_ with me! I don't care if the building's on the brink of falling over; _you'll_ be on the brink of falling over by the time I'm done with you!' _

'Well, I'm not messing with her,' Knuckles muttered. 'Besides, you deserve her annoyance, what with you losing the Chaos Emeralds.'

Sonic seemed to think for a moment, then he sat himself down between Chris and Knuckles. 'You know, it really _is_ kind of nice up here,' he said, folding his arms behind his head while using Chris as support. 'All peaceful like. For a potential world-destroying catastrophe, those freaky walls are kinda pretty.'

'Yeah, pretty in a _soul annihilating _kind of way. What're we supposed to _do_ up here, exactly?' Knuckles asked irritably. 'Just sit around while the human world goes to pieces?'

'Sooonic_, for goodness sakes, if you don't come down here then you _know_ I'm coming up!' _

'Well you... did say we shouldn't rush into things, right?' Chris sighed. 'You were right: there's really nothing we can do now.' And in all seriousness, Chris added to himself, he _needed_ five minutes rest. He felt as if he hadn't stopped running for days, and now the adrenaline of the last couple of hours seemed to be wearing off. Just a few moments to not think about the strangeness and the Emeralds and the walls coming down on human life all over Station Square would be nice.

'Not unless you're Sonic and you have a date with Amy's hammer. And just for the record, you're letting this damn hedgehog rub off on you too much, Chris.' Knuckles grunted. But then he too 

folded his arms and gazed out across the city. 'How long are we planning to just sit here, on a rooftop, in the middle of the... remains of some chaos-only-knows-what creature?'

'Meh, for as it takes Amy to get tired of waiting and come up the thirty flights of stairs after us I guess,' Sonic shrugged.

Chris laughed faintly. '_Sonic...' _

'Hey, let a condemned man enjoy his last look at the horizon, Chris, that's all I ask,' Sonic said.

And then there was quiet. A strange, remotely disturbing peace and quiet hanging over the three of them as they sat looking out across the strange distorted mess that was Station Square.

At least for as long as it took Amy to climb thirty flights of stairs, anyway.

* * *

_'No.' _

_'No no no no no.' _

_'Not right.' _

_'No. Not right, not right at all.' _

_'Changing.' _

_'something's changing. Something—'_

_'—Wrong, not right, not right at all.'_

_'Something changing.' _

_'Where? Where did they go?' _

_'Vanished.' _

_'Something crying out for power. Something new in story. Wolds collide.' _

_'Worlds broken?' _

_'Don't know.' _

_'Meant to happen?'_

_'Meant to... who knows? Not us.' _

_'Changing.' _

_'Heard you already, quiet!'_

_'Silence, everyone be silent. Time to listen, time to think.'_

_'Yes listen. Wait.'_

_'Patience, calm. Watch for changing.'_

_'Watching. We will watch.' _

* * *


	15. Fourteen: First Stop

**This chapter sees the return of one of my favourite characters, at last. Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit are, as ever, appreciated (as is tolerance for the humans. They're really not so bad you know.)**

* * *

Fourteen.

_Once upon a time there were seven servers, created to serve the Master of Chaos. Its will was their will; its power was their power, but only so far as the Master desired. _

_The seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers; the controller serves to unify the Chaos. This is the way it has been for as long as anyone cares to remember. Indeed, this is the only way that things could ever possibly be. _

"_Power" is not a tangible substance. Or at least, it shouldn't be. Power is simply a _feeling_. Energy can be converted into power, but energy is not power in itself. Energy requires something else to be present in order to force it into motion. The power the Seven Chaos contain however, is power which can be held and touched. Power which can only be harnessed by those whose hearts are strong. Such a solid, corporeal power has never existed before in either world, nor ever will again. _

_This is what makes the Seven Servers so powerful. And this is why, in the wrong hands, their potential is so deadly. _

_Our story is becoming more complicated. Don't worry. Chaos can be like that._

* * *

His landing left a lot to be desired.

Something definitely broke in the impact. Or maybe in the darkness that had come just _before_ the impact. Whatever the case, he emerged from a mess of shattered glass and rock with a sensation of pain racing through his left arm and ankle, and the distinct recollection of having been thrown from a great height at a very high speed, and of crashing through at least three thick layers of wood and stone before coming to rest on a bed of concrete. A normal being would most likely have been killed by such an experience.

The Ultimate Life Form, however, was not a normal being.

The portal (assuming of course, that it _had_ been a portal) seemed to have deposited him right in the middle of an old, four story building with a glass rooftop and enough damp and rot to make the floorboards give way under his unexpected weight. Looking around the dirty, dingy space where he had ended up, Shadow found himself to be in a cellar which clearly hadn't been used by anyone or anything but rats and spiders for many years. Getting out proved to be difficult due to the pain lancing through two of his limbs, but after a trial he succeeded in pushing his way out of the glass and wood and emerging into a small, litter-strewn back alley in some god forsaken city.

His current location was unclear to him, but there was no mistaking the smell: the many scents and odours of a large city; tinged with petrol and chemicals and general humanity. He gazed at his surroundings, taking in the darkness of the alleyway and the unnatural colour of the sky above. In the distance he could hear the sound of what was probably an ocean and the cries of earthly birds.

This was not Station Square. He would've known if he were there, even with his memories still as broken up as they were.

And that hadn't been a normal portal, Shadow also realised, as he looked back into a sharp green sky. In truth, it couldn't really have been a "portal" at all. It hadn't opened or closed behind him like a gateway, and travelling though it had felt like being sucked through a narrow wire into deep, black eternity. It had felt, Shadow decided, as if he had been running through an impossible nothingness. As if he had been sucked out of existence itself, and then dumped right back into it. No portal could ever operate on such principles.

Yet here he was. Back in the world of his creation. Maria's world.

He winced. The glass rooftop he had crashed through had splintered and cut into him like blades, though he couldn't be certain exactly where all of that blood was coming from. He wasn't too concerned about it for now. Cuts like that would heal easily and quickly. Far more worrying to him was the pain in his foot: Damaged legs meant his ability to run would be hindered. He lifted one leg and gripped it in his hand, checking for breaks: sure enough, the pain lanced deeper when his hand closed around his lower left ankle. Even if it wasn't broken there were probably at least some ligaments torn.

Damn.

And the sky... that was something else, too. The sensation of Chaos hung everywhere, penetrating every sense he has – faint, but present nonetheless. Except that it couldn't be _real_ Chaos Energy, because being so close to Chaos energy had never sent such painful chills down his spine before. The sky was overcast with cold, dark energies that didn't belong there.

The seven Chaos Emeralds were amidst it. And that meant that Sonic was somewhere in this world too. He had to be, Shadow thought, as if Sonic would ever pass up an opportunity to return to the human world no matter how stupid an idea it might be.

Shadow made his way through the abandoned warehouse district slowly. Limping would do for now. It was movement at least and he had no desire to remain in the darkness of the alleys. No good could come of staying there. He would find what he came here for, torn ligaments or no torn ligaments.

* * *

The Channel Three News Crew took half an hour longer than usual to make it into the City Centre. This was mainly because the three main routes into the city had been sliced in half by falling walls of energy and that whenever the vans _did_ find a clear route; they had to keep shifting out of the way to allow access for fire engines and police units. They also had to bring as much recording equipment with them as possible due to the satellite system being inoperative, so it had taken a twelve-man-team thirty minutes just to get everything prepped for moving.

Add this to the fact that they had clearly already _missed_ one big breaking headline: Ten minutes earlier a powerful beam of golden light, no less than twenty metres wide and immeasurably high had spiralled upwards into the sky across the city. Less than a minute later, however, it had faded from view. Scarlet hadn't even had time to prep her microphone (and it would've been difficult to make a decent recording from the back seat of a moving vehicle, anyway) before it had disappeared, taking its story with it.

Honestly, given their current circumstances, Scarlet would've thought that her colleagues might have better things to talk about than...

'So, I hear he's really cute, right?'

...Than that. Scarlet sighed impatiently while checking her microphone for the umpteenth time. 'What exactly does _that_ mean?'

'Oh, nothing! Nothing at all.' Cynthia smiled at Scarlet from behind the stack of untethered recording gear that she was trying to hang onto in the back of the moving vehicle. 'It's just... well; you _know_ what they say about him: _Speed_ by name...'

Scarlet shook her head. Honestly, she'd heard that one about a hundred times. She was fairly sure that _Sam Speed_ wasn't his legal name, anyway.

She didn't see what everyone was making so much fuss about. The Speed Team could be virtually anywhere at any given time; their vehicles could outrun most of the News Crews 'Copters (and most of the police force's, for that matter) and nine out of the ten members were also connected to the Local Police Squad and therefore had access to a massive stockpile of information concerning whatever the big-news crime-related headline was at the time.

Really, it was a perfectly logical, sensible partnership. It just happened to occasionally involve coffee shops and local bars. It wasn't like they were _dating_ or anything.

'So spill it, Miss Garcia: does he have a girlfriend?'

'Not that I know of,' Scarlet muttered. 'And you know, we're on our way to report on a city wide disaster here, Cynthia. I hardly think this is a good time to be discussing romantic interests.'

'Ah, so in other words he _is_ an interest.'

'_Cynthia_.'

'Okay okay,' the girl giggled and Scarlet reminded herself that Cynthia couldn't honestly be expected to understand these things. She was only eighteen after. 'Man, Miss Garcia, you sure know how to keep a secret.'

'Well Scarlet here didn't become the News Reporter of the Year because she has a vibrant social life,' the van's driver called back to them.

Scarlet scowled. '_Thank you_ Gareth. Now keep your eyes on the road, will you? Otherwise our first recording will end up being a report about how the only news crew in the city _drove themselves into a ditch_ before even reaching the scene of the crisis.'

'You know what I heard?' Cynthia said, clearly not planning on ending the conversation in spite of Scarlet's reluctance. 'That he's dating that Secretary –you know the one who works for the President?'

'Oh, _sure_. The leader of the Speed Team and the President's secretary,' Scarlet sighed disbelievingly. That was probably the strangest one she'd heard yet. She'd _met_ the president's secretary, and she 

and Samuel Speed were about as compatible as chalk and cheese. 'Honestly, Cynthia, where do you _hear_ this stuff?'

'The internet is a vast and infinite resource, Miss Garcia,' Cynthia smiled.

'Ha. Yeah if you can shift through all the hearsay and idle gossip,' Scarlet muttered. 'Trust me, Cynthia. Sam Speed is _not_ dating Christina Cooper.'

'Yeah, you're probably right,' Cynthia shrugged, shifting the stack of recording tapes currently balanced on her lap. Scarlet enjoyed a moment of merciful silence before Cynthia added. 'It's probably that brunette with pigtails he rescued from a car hijacking.'

Scarlet would've probably jumped out of her seat, if she hadn't been weighed down by a enormous video camera. '_Excuse_ me?'

'Yeah, and I read _that_ one in the _Temp_ _Monthly Magazine_,' Cynthia grinned. 'Not on the internet. Apparently it was love at first sight. You can't argue with a fellow reporter's analysis, can you Miss Garcia?'

It took all of Scarlet's self control not to hit her head against her microphone. 'Oh come on! Those people at _Temp_ aren't reporters; they're overzealous photographers and stalkers with too much time on their hands!'

'Methinks I hear a tad of jealously in your voice there, Scar.' The driver called back with a chuckle.

'_Eyes on the Road_, Gareth.'

'It's kind of exciting though, isn't it?' Cynthia said, still grinning like a girl who really hadn't yet realised how serious things were. 'Just think. I bet the Speed team is out there right now, racing to someone's rescue and helping to sort all this out.'

'Hm. Somehow I don't think high speed vehicles are going to be much use with all these walls everywhere,' Scarlet muttered uneasily. 'Not really much any of them can do without a good run up, after all. And there's no saying that they weren't under one of these awful walls when they came down.'

Cynthia looked at her sympathetically. 'Oh Scarlet, you must be worried about him.'

'Worried?' Scarlet frowned. To be honest, worrying about anything wasn't the first thing on her mind right now. 'About _that_ speed freak? He's probably waiting for another one of those things to come down so he can _race_ it.' Because that was just what Sam Speed was like, she added privately to herself. Nobody could keep up with him. Well, nobody from _this_ world, anyway...

Then Scarlet looked up suddenly in realisation. 'Hey... now that I think about it, didn't that light remind you of something?'

'If you're thinking that it reminded ya of that ridiculous Chaos Control mess that struck here a few years ago, then yeah,' Gareth muttered. 'It sure looked that way to me, Garcia.'

Cynthia blinked. 'Um... I'm sorry, that Chaos Control _what_?'

'You weren't living here then, honey,' Gareth called. 'Though it was all over the news, just the same. Still, I figure you were... what? Twelve years old? Trust me, it's a long story.'

'And it's starting to look as if they might be bringing out a sequel,' Scarlet murmured, clutching her microphone a little too firmly: this was an old habit of hers. Apparently it was the only thing which had ever given away how nervous she was whenever she was reporting a dicey broadcast, like the Chaos Incident. Right now she was gripping the microphone so tightly that her knuckles were blanching and her carefully manicured nails were digging into the skin of her palm

'Well looks to me like there's a bunch of people hanging around the out-of-town bus station.' Gareth said, tilting his mirror to get a good look at his passengers and their equipment.

Scarlet nodded. 'Yes, that's the place they used as a safe point the last time something like this happened.'

'There should be some professionals there, then. Figure that's as good a place as any to start.'

There was a long moment of silence while Scarlet continued to check her microphone. Then...

'So anyway, there's probably not much point in worrying about him, Scarlet, it's not like he can't already deal with anything this world throws at him...'

'We're _ending_ this discussion, Cyn.'

'Just sayin'...'

* * *

Alisa had finally stopped racing from one place to another trying to help the confused students all around her and was sat down on a decorative wall, trying to undo the straps of her high heeled shoes when she first became aware of it: Until now, the Campus had echoed with the sound of angry proclamations, requests for help, and the occasional frightened or injured student sobbing. Now, however, the atmosphere seemed to have changed. The ambience around her had shifted suddenly from nervous and apprehensive, to unnerved and –dare she think it?– _hopeful_.

'_...Did you see?'_

'_No, not yet, I thought... it's not... gossip?'_

'_That's what... thought at first, but...'_

'_Heard it from the other side of town...'_

'_That light... is that what...?' _

'_I don't believe you...'_

Alisa paused, leaving the straps of her shoes half undone as she studied the crowd, now shifting and muttering expectantly. She couldn't hear anyone clearly, but the general gist of conversation seemed to be the same, no matter where she turned.

'_How can... be sure? He...' _

'_Just a rumour...'_

'_What's hap... here? Something to do... them?' _

'_Beats me...' _

'_Has to be them... Has to.' _

'_What... Thorndyke, won't he know?' _

Alisa found herself shuffling uncomfortably, once again filled with the grinding sensation that the rest of the world knew something she didn't. She wanted to ask and find out what it was that everyone was so worked up about all of a sudden, but to do so directly would've given the impression that she didn't understand what was going on. (Which she didn't, but it wouldn't help the students around her if _they_ knew that.)

Instead, Alisa got to her feet (hurting already; damn it, she _knew_ she should've have worn the killer-heels-from-hell today) and started walking through the crowds, trying to find where the muttering was loudest. She passed the nearest ambulance, and was surprised to find the young girl Clara, looking up at the green sky.

'H- heard it...' Alisa heard her whispering urgently. 'I... I heard it, sir, and all that light b-before it... it was him, wasn't it? Do you really think it was?'

The paramedic smiled at her as best he could, somewhat preoccupied with a needle he was inserting into the young girl's arm. The girl looked up suddenly –clearly in pain (Alisa made a distinct effort not to look at whatever cold, grey substance remained of the girl's foot), but still smiling broadly when she saw Alisa.

'Professor! ...Y-you are a professor, aren't you?! D-did you hear it? Do you think it's true?'

'Uh... true?' Alisa frowned. Clara laughed, and then winced at the resulting pain. However by the time the ambulance paramedic pulled the needle away she was smiling again.

'It's okay. We... we'll all be okay won't we? And if he's really here...'

'_If who's really here?' _Alisa thought, though a part of her brain was hinting that she already knew the answer. She couldn't quite bring herself to say this to the girl and instead tried to answer as best she could without lying. 'I... I suppose... I mean, yes. I think we will, Clara. Don't you worry about that, it'll all be fine.'

Clara's smile widened further as she gripped the paramedic's arm as best she could with already morphine-dulled hands. The paramedic grinned up at Alisa knowingly and Alisa felt her face flushing. Even _he_ seemed to know what was going on here better than she did.

'Look around, if he's here, then I'm pretty sure we'll see him soon,' the Paramedic said, clearly taking pity on her. Alisa bit her lip, glancing back into the courtyard; the muttering was growing louder and more excited by the minute, and a single word was beginning to stand out amidst the jumbled voices.

'_It can't... real, the portal closed.'_

'_...Six years ago, we _know_...'_

'_Saw it on the news. We all saw it.' _

'_No, I swear it... he was _there_... just saw him with my own two eyes. It's Sonic!'_

'Sonic...?' Alisa murmured. Then she promptly had to resist the urge to slap a hand against her forehead. Of course. Who _else_ would they be talking about?

'You must be new here, Doctor,' a voice called, and Alisa turned, at first thinking that it must have been the paramedic speaking. But he had already wheeled Clara's chair to the other side of the ambulance. The person addressing her now was an old man, roughly sixty years of age. He was dressed in a white lab coat, and had he been ten years younger she probably would've mistaken him for one of the Science Tutors. 'I don't suppose you're familiar with him.'

'I... um... no, I guess I'm not,' Clara replied. She knew that she was responding mostly on impulse, otherwise she would've tried to sound a little less... confused. 'You... know him, then?'

'Know _Sonic_?' The old man chuckled. He said, sounding slightly out of breath and Alisa couldn't help wondering whether a person of his age shouldn't be running around. 'I don't know many people in this city who aren't at least acquainted with the guy. I came out here as soon as I saw those crazy walls... You won't believe the damn trouble I had getting through the traffic.' He looked around, arms folded and teeth gritted as he hissed through them. 'Look at this _mess_. I'll give those guys this; they always did know how to make an entrance.'

'You mean... those guys?' Alisa felt totally lost by now. To her Sonic the hedgehog had always been little more than a figure in vaguely remembered news reports and six-year-old stories of world-wide disasters that she had been too wrapped up in her studies to pay attention to at the time. A childish superhero, she had always thought; and Alisa was far too old for superheroes. 'The other people who came through the portal?'

The old man chuckled grimly. 'Oh yes, I think you're _definitely_ new to these parts, Doctor. I'm sorry, you _are_ a doctor, correct?'

'That's... that's right,' Alisa tried not to look as irked as she felt. 'I just graduated this year. I'm Doctor Armstrong.'

'I thought as much. You've got that kind of air about you,' the man said. 'You know, if you were looking for a quiet career, then Station Square probably wasn't the best place you could've moved to.'

'Wait a minute, sir, do I know...' Alisa paused, slowly remembering the dog eared pages of her older Metaphysical theory guides and scrap book newspaper clippings from Scientific Magazines. She blinked repeatedly as it finally dawned on her exactly who she was speaking to. 'Of course... I thought I recognized you. Professor Thorndyke, I presume?'

'You've heard of me?' The old man looked rather pleased about this. 'That means you must be teaching science then. Mechanics, or the new programming class or something?'

'As... a matter of fact, yes, I am.'

The professor nodded. 'Hm. Well, at least there's _one_ scientific mind available on this entire campus then. My grandson signed up to the advanced level class for that subject this year: which is why I'm here. You haven't seen him have you? Light brown hair –sort of reddish-like, blue eyes, about so tall... Looks about twelve, so you really can't miss him in a place like this.'

'Have I _seen_ him?' It was only Alisa's natural respect for senior experts in her field that kept her from yelling. 'Um... would you be referring to that... that boy who's been communicating with various assorted talking, technicoloured mammals for the last two hours?' (Not to mention running off with them some place after she'd told him in no uncertain terms to stay put, damn it...)

'Ah! Then they _are_ here,' the Professor grinned broadly, and Alisa couldn't help but feel bewildered by his apparent pleasure. 'Well what do you know? Looks like there's some life left in the interplanetary portal project after all. And at least Chris is bound to be alright, if he's running around with them.'

Alisa let out a breath. 'I _thought_ as much. Professor, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I wouldn't be surprised if your grandson is the _cause_ of all of this! This whole thing started when he was messing around with those portal systems in the upper floor laboratory!'

'Yes, that's what I suspected too,' Professor Thorndyke looked remarkably unperturbed by the idea that his grandson might've caused a citywide catastrophe. 'Or at least I figured he was _involved_ in some way. I don't believe that he's the cause of it however.' He looked back at Alisa seriously. 'The kid may have inherited my intellect but be damned if he could bring about something like _this_. I taught him better than that.'

'Then... then what do you suggest is causing this?' Alisa asked, impatiently. 'There are _people_ in those walls, do you suggest we delay any longer and let them suffer? What exactly are we supposed to do?!'

'You can start by doing us all a favour and calming down, Doctor Armstrong. Running around expecting answers in a crisis zone is never a good move. This is a place of _action_, not theories and accusations.' Professor Thorndyke said, blankly. Alisa shifted backwards; feeling put out that he could make her feel so much like an amateur.

'Tell that to your _grandson_, sir. He's already disappeared from the campus. And that...echidna or whatever he was has gone with him.'

'Knuckles?' The professor looked concerned for a moment, and then reasserted himself. 'Hm. Typical... Those guys are like taxis: you wait forever and then three of them come along at once. Well, let's deal with things one at a time. You've spoken with the emergency services?'

'Of course, that was the first thing I did,' Alisa fought to reassert herself. Her employer he may not have been, but he was at least a superior in her field and that demanded a certain amount of respect.

The professor nodded approvingly. 'Then I suggest you and I check out this portal that you think is causing so much trouble together. If this is anything to do with that, then the information concerning it should be right there in the computer database.'

'You think the portal may still be active?'

'It's possible, but unlikely. This isn't like any portal effect I've ever seen. Gateways tend to open in a single site; they don't spread across the sky like constellations. The only way we'll know for sure is by checking it out. As for my Grandson... whatever he's up to he can handle it. Particularly if Knuckles is with him. You don't have to worry about either of them.'

Alisa decided not to mention that _worrying_ about the kid had been the last thing on her mind. 'I... I see. And what about the others?'

Professor Thorndyke turned to look at her again in surprised. 'What, there are _more_ of them back?'

'Ah... yes... there's a little girl, too, about... so big?' Alisa held a hand flat just above her knee. 'She looks like a rabbit.'

The professor smiled. 'Ha! Well Ella will be pleased to hear about this, at least. Looks like the poor kid's gotten mixed up in another of Sonic's fine messes. Is she around somewhere? I should probably talk to her first and check that she's okay before we get down to the scientific stuff... Ah, and there's another girl I want to talk to, as well... Human, this time, mind you. I just hope she didn't get caught up in any of this.'

Alisa could only nod bewilderedly. Who was this man, she wondered, who seemed to understand so much about a world he'd probably never encountered before? What had he been involved with which hadn't made its way into his scientific anthologies and journals?

She hadn't much time to think about this. Less than a moment later, the Professor's ongoing sentence about the issue of "city-wide chaos-influence" (or something like that) was interrupted by the loud and unmistakable sound of a sonic boom. The mass of students acted as if a firework had gone off amongst them, shifting urgently out of the way as a speeding blue, white and pink object raced across the campus before coming to a stop more suddenly than anything travelling at that speed should've been able to. It was only now that Alisa realised the speeding blue figure had a solid form, and was hanging onto at least three others –two of whom had been holding onto his arms, while a third clung to his neck like some kind of furry orange rucksack.

The professor chuckled, smiling broadly for reasons Alisa couldn't quite understand. 'Well, looks like they're way ahead of me as usual. Just like him to make his entrance in style.'

Alisa's couldn't find her tongue to formulate a response as she was left staring at this strange yet familiar figure. A second later the blue creature (whoever or _whatever_ it was), let go of a recognizable young boy's waist and let him stand up, while a pink creature detached herself from him the other side. Alisa was abruptly reminded of the TV shows and news reports from years earlier, showing film after film of electric-blue light streaming across a crowded city into battle, before stopping to offer a grin and a cocky thumbs-up to whatever camera might have been present.

'An' that's what we call Travelling by Sonic Express,' a voice said. 'First and last stop, people, everybody off.'

'Well, you did get us here before Knuckles, like you said,' the orange thing said, sounding vaguely amused. 'But I still think you're slowing down.'

'Hm, Tails is right, Sonic. We might need to put you on a diet.' Someone else said, and Alisa recognized _that_ voice, at least. It was Christopher Thorndyke.

''Cause I like you I'll pretend not to be insulted there, Chris... Oh, hey, guys!' Sonic the Hedgehog looked up, grinning at the crowds around him. 'How's it goin'?'

Yes... Alisa remembered Sonic the hedgehog alright. Perhaps more vividly than she had realised she did. And, just like in all of those old news reports and TV shows and magazines that she had been bombarded with six years ago, the creature was anything but shy when it came to making his presence known. And people certainly responded to it. The muttering of the crowd had escalated to outright excited cries.

'_It's him!'_

'_Sonic the Hedgehog?'_

'_Sonic's back.'_

'_It's Sonic!' _

Alisa looked up at the professor, who himself seemed torn between smiling and going over to greet them or grimacing in concern and finding a portal to shove them back into. Alisa understood that at least. She knew so little about this whole mess, but one thing that she did know was that creatures from the other world were not supposed to be here, no matter how fond the public was of them.

By now, the pink creature had attached itself (herself? Hell, Alisa wouldn't be surprised if they were colour coded according to gender) quite firmly to the blue thing's arm again, and the orange thing was smiling shyly and looking as if it was contemplating creeping behind Chris in order to avoid the excitement of the crowd. A few seconds later, Alisa saw the small rabbit pushing through the crowd with a thousand "excuse me" and "pardon me's" before throwing herself on the orange one and hugging him. A single person yelled "_Sonic! Chris_!' and it took Alisa a moment to realise that the voice belonged to Francis, who was running towards them grinning with Danny just behind her pushing Helen in her substitute chair.

Someone started clapping, then someone else joined in, and what only moments ago had been a throng of urgent whispers and hopeful mutterings became an outright cheer.

A part of Alisa wanted to approach him. To ask questions. To demand that he explain what was going on here and tell her whether he was really who he seemed. But before long, Alisa lost sight of the new arrivals as they were surrounded on every side by dozens upon dozens of students, and people were cheering so loudly that she couldn't have made her voice heard anyway.


	16. Fifteen: The Show Must Go On

**Another of my personal 'ships should become apparent in the next chapter. Couldn't help myself. Hee. Standard disclaimers apply, of course, and reviews and concrit are adored. **

* * *

Fifteen.

Almost an hour later a crowd of humans and non humans had gathered in a room on the sixth floor of a campus building. Sonic had sat himself on the edge of a desk, using some kind of computer as a back rest, and was paying as much attention to the ongoing explanation as was possible for him, given how little of it he understood.

It was only now, looking at Danny and Francis and Helen who all seemed so _big_ in comparison to the last time he had seen them, that he realised just what Chris had meant by "Time Flux". Sonic had to admit, Chris looked kind of funny sitting next to them, half their height, and looking just as Sonic had always remembered him; but no doubt very different to the way that he was _supposed_ to look. All of a sudden the six years that Chris claimed had passed between them seemed like a really long time.

Besides the four humans sat Amy and Tails, while Cream had made herself comfortable on Francis's lap. They all sat quietly in front of Grandpa Chuck (_at least _he_ still looks the way he always did_, Sonic thought) listening to his rather vague explanation about exactly what was going on (and how they were supposed to fix it with only one Chaos Emerald).

'What we're looking at here...' Chuck Thorndyke said, jabbing a pen at the poster of planet earth which he had pinned to the wall, '...is an Intergalactic World Breach spanning our two realities and connecting them across multiple areas. Now, _this_ location...' he circled a point on the map with the pen. 'Is where we are now. It's also where this World Breach first occurred.'

'Yeah, okay, so this intergalactic breach whatjimacallit...' Sonic said, 'what do people who don't work in fancy places like this call that?'

'It's relatively simple Sonic,' Tails said. 'You remember when we arrived in this world the first time?'

'I remember that it gave me one heckuva headache.'

'Well, yeah. Causing huge fluxes of energy on a Chaos-Level will do that to you,' Tails said, evenly. 'But that's not my point. What happened back then was a huge spike of energy that ripped through the dimensional barrier between our two worlds and sucked us into it. _That_ was a breach.'

'Basically correct,' Chuck said. 'You have to remember, Sonic: at some point in the past, our world and your world were one and the same, and even now, the only thing which keeps them separate is a kind of Dimensional Barrier. When people travel from one world to the other they're passing _through_ that barrier.'

'And there are two ways of doing that,' Chris added. 'The first is to cause an energy burst powerful enough to create a temporary gap in the dimensional barrier.'

Sonic nodded. 'Okay, I get that. Like what happens when you bring all the Chaos Emeralds together without giving them time to adapt to each other?'

'You've got it,' Chuck said, 'and individuals who are capable of using Chaos Control can create more controlled breaches on their own, of course. Then there's the other way of getting from one world to another –the more complicated way: portals.'

'Like that thing?' Sonic said, pointing over his shoulder to the large, silvery-metal coil which stood amidst computers on the other side of the room.

'Yes,' Cream said, looking up from where she was quite comfortably seated on Francis's lap, 'that's the portal I remember seeing when we arrived. But only for a second, since it was so dark in here.'

'Um... Well, yes and no,' Chris said. 'Actually, that portal is only _supposed_ to be visual: it lets us look _into_ the other world, but it doesn't let us travel there.'

'Oh, so it's like a telephone to another world,' Cream smiled.

Chris chuckled. 'Yeah, I guess. When it actually _works_. Only nobody can pick up on the other side.'

'Except that clearly it's been doing more than that of late,' a voice said. Chris and Cream both stopped smiling and Sonic turned to look at the woman sitting at a nearby desk. She was watching them with a serious expression, and Sonic had almost forgotten she was there until she spoke.

...Actually, he would've been quite happy for her to _stay_ forgotten. He didn't like the way she was _looking_ at them.

'Maybe so, Doctor,' Helen said, dryly. 'But as I've already said a dozen times, we're still not sure about that yet.'

The woman –what was her name again? Alisa?– raised an eyebrow. 'Oh come _on_, dear. I think it's fairly obvious what happened here. At least two of these people came _through_ that supposedly "visual only" portal.'

'Ah... yes, well, we'll come back to that little phenomenon later, Miss Armstrong,' Chuck interrupted before Helen could answer back, 'for now I'm in the middle of an explanation.'

Alisa frowned, but fell silent and folded her arms across her chest. Sonic felt something stirring in his stomach. It was the same, strange, uncomfortable sensation he sometimes got in the presence of Rouge, or Eggman. He didn't know why the lady was there, but he was fairly sure he didn't _like_ her. Still, Grandpa Chuck seemed to think her being there was okay, so Sonic supposed she wasn't anything to worry about.

'Okay, so... that's what happened last time, right?' Amy said. 'We got _to_ this world through a dimensional breach, and we got home again through a portal.'

'Well, yeah, most of you did,' Chris said. Then he looked at Sonic. 'Except for Sonic. He caused Chaos Control on his own in order to go back home, so he Breached both ways.'

'I still don't get what the difference is,' Sonic muttered, scratching the back of his head underneath his quills.

'Let me break it down for you in simple terms, Sonic,' Knuckles said, dryly. He didn't look at them, but rather continued to stare firmly out of a window at the emerald green sky while he spoke. 'Portals are secure tunnels between two or more places. You can turn them on and off as you please and just about anyone can use them. Provided, that is, that they're prepared to deal with the possible consequences of...' He glimpsed at Chris and coughed. '...Time Warps.'

'Yeah, one of those consequences being this,' Chris muttered, pointing at himself. 'But setting possible de-aging issues aside, Portals are still reasonably stable in comparison to Breaches. That's because they're usually _designed_ with transportation in mind. Two receivers are set up, and matter or information is transferred between them at incredible speeds. But Breaches just... appear whenever an energy concentration is big enough, and they tend to disappear afterwards. They open and they close automatically.'

'Except that now,' Chuck said grimly, 'they don't appear to be closing.'

Many pairs of eyes turned in the direction Knuckles was already looking, gazing out at the green, star flecked sky.

So... you're saying that what we have here...' Alisa said, slowly. '...Is a _Stable Breach_?'

'Actually, what we have here is a _number_ of stable breaches,' Chuck said. 'As many as... well... as many as there are green stars in the sky right now, I suppose. All of them are direct breach pathways between our world and Sonic's.

Sonic could see Alisa blinking repeatedly out of the corner of his eye. 'Wait, you're saying that the sky is full of portals and that more people from the other world could come spilling through them at any moment?'

'Well, not exactly. They're not technically portals and they can't be used as such. Each of those breaches is extremely small and I would bet that most if not all of their power is going upon creating those walls.'

'_And_ on chucking the occasional giant freak at us,' Sonic added, mostly just to see Alisa's reaction.

Alisa shuddered. 'Well if... if _monsters_ can come through from the other world, then why not anything else?' She asked.

'If anything else _could_ get here then I think we would've known about it by now,' Chuck said, dryly. 'But nothing and no one has come falling from the sky since this phenomenon began. Bar the creature Sonic fought –which probably had some kind of transmutation ability which allowed it to slip through a Breach– It appears that only a few people were sucked into this world as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when this whole thing started.'

'Lucky us,' Amy said sarcastically, before turning to the humans on her left. 'Um... no offence or anything, guys.'

'None taken.' Danny grinned.

'So the things causing those nasty walls, and all those pretty lights... Are Breaches?' Cream said, sounding very confused that something so beautiful could have created something so dangerous. Sonic wasn't surprised: he was having a little difficulty understanding it himself.

'For the record, they're not just _pretty lights_,' Knuckles said. 'They're fragments of the Master Emerald.'

'Which makes sense, in a creepy sort of way,' Chris said. 'I mean, the Master Emerald contains power equal to hundreds of Chaos Emeralds –it's just a lot more stable than they are. Probably on account of being so big. By splitting into so many pieces, its power could've been magnified and spread out.'

'Giving whoever or whatever is causing this the ability to manipulate it across a larger area,' Knuckles said, anger permeating his voice to such a degree that Sonic kind of didn't blame Alisa for shuffling away from the echidna a little. 'It's acting like the Master Emerald some kind of _toy_ to be twisted as they see fit. It's _disgusting_.'

'Yeah, I saw that when I was up there,' Sonic muttered uneasily. 'Something _weird_ is happening, Chuck. It's like something's _controlling_ all of those little Emerald Fragments... Making them create those walls.'

'Yes, I was afraid of that...' Chuck said sombrely. 'Each of those fragments is binding our worlds together across the dimensional barrier. And there are... Creatures out there which are using these stable breaches in order to get to our world. They're also using the Fragments to create these walls which have fallen over the city. Walls with the ability to draw energy from the surface of the world.'

'And which Helen here came out of unharmed,' Alisa added.

Everyone looked at her again. Some of them in confusion. 'Say what?' Amy blinked. 'What do you mean Helen came out of one, miss?'

'Yeah, the physical nature of the walls prevents anyone from doing that,' Tails said. 'We can hardly touch them, never mind _enter_ them, and I don't think anyone stuck inside of one would be capable of movement.'

'Quite right,' Alisa said, and Sonic followed the line of the woman's gaze until it settled on an uncomfortable looking Chris. 'And yet here she is.'

'And... how would that be, exactly?' Chuck asked.

'Um...' Chris coughed and the faces of everyone in the room turned from Alisa, to him. He shuffled uncomfortably under the stares. 'Well I kind of sorta... went into it and pulled her out.'

There was silence for a moment, except for the tapping of Alisa's fingers on the table top.

'You serious, buddy?' Sonic asked, eventually.

'He's serious,' Helen said softly. 'I remember being in there. How _cold_ it was... Like winter inside, only greyer. And every part of me was going numb and disappearing.' She looked in Chris's direction. 'Until Chris showed up, that is. And then the next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground, my chair's gone, and there's this huge grey wall towering in front of me.'

'Not only that,' Alisa added, 'but Helen came out of that thing totally unharmed. In spite of the fact that everyone else who was even _slightly_ trapped came out with their _limbs falling off_.'

'Um... ew?' Amy blinked. 'You're kidding right? I mean... Chris, how did you _do_ that?'

'I... I don't know. Spur of the moment?'

'I'll say it was spur of the moment,' Danny laughed. 'It was _awesome_, guys. He just took a running jump and... pow!

'Awesome isn't the word I would've chosen for it, Danny,' Francis said, rolling her eyes. 'But... still, Miss Armstrong's right. Chris _did_ go into the barrier. And he had a hard time getting _out_ of it, too.'

'Let me get this straight, Chris...' Chuck said, giving his grandson a firm look. 'You... _ran headlong_ into a solid surface capable of draining the kinetic and potential energy out of everything it touches to the extent of _disintegrating _human tissue.'

'Um. Yes?'

Sonic glimpsed back and forth between grandparent and grandson, reading both of their expressions. The last time he has seen Chuck looking at Chris that way, he had thought the boy to be guilty of harbouring a fugitive, hedgehog shaped, chilidog eating robot in the house (which he technically had been, except for the fact that it hadn't been a robot). 'And... What exactly did you think you would accomplish?' Chuck said strictly. 'Asides from potentially _killing_ yourself that is?'

'Well... um... I got Helen out?' Chris said, and Chuck stood there for a moment, mouth open in the beginning of a rebuke that never emerged. He seemed to want to tell his grandson off, but wasn't sure _how_ to.

'Uh... you're mad, right?' Chris muttered. 'I mean I couldn't just _leave_ her, grandpa.'

'Well you really should stop doing silly things like that Chris,' Cream said, in what she clearly thought was a reprimanding voice (and actually just sounded cute). 'But it was still good that you did. If you didn't Helen might've been in big trouble now.'

'She's not wrong, Grandpa,' Helen said, reassuringly. She looked at Chris, and Sonic grinned at the fact that Chris's face was gradually turning the same colour as Amy's dress.

'And um... at least now we know that it _is_ possible to enter the wall-surfaces if you go at them hard enough, right?' Chris suggested. 'So they're not entirely impregnable.'

'Yeah and if Chris can get into them just by taking a running jump, then surely Sonic would be able to, right Sonic?' Francis looked at him.

'Yeah, I guess so,' Sonic shrugged. 'You can do just about anything if you go fast enough. We can give it a shot.'

Sonic heard Knuckles grunting, but the Echidna didn't turn to look at them or say anything further, so Sonic couldn't be sure what he meant.

Grandpa Chuck appeared to take a deep breath, shaking his head and staring at Chris in disbelief. 'Oh-kay,' he said uneasily. 'Fair enough. Seeing as nobody got hurt, I'll let you off this time. But let's _not_ do things like this every time we need information, okay Chris?'

'You don't think this is worth investigating further, professor?' Alisa asked.

'Investigating?' Chuck still looked confused (he was probably caught up in one of those weird, lengthy mental calculations that sometimes made Tails fall quiet for hours on end when Sonic wanted to talk to him, or something). 'Well... granted it might be a good idea to run some tests later. It may be something in Helen's genetic makeup which made her resistant to the wall's effect. Or something in _Chris's_ for that matter.'

'Maybe the Master Emerald just likes them, even when it's being bad,' Cream suggested, earning herself a few amused smiles. Still, Sonic thought, that wasn't a totally bad idea. The Master Emerald did weird things like that sometimes.

'Or it could be the first theory we considered,' Chris suggested. 'We thought that maybe it was because everyone here is coated in Chaos energy. _Pure_ Chaos energy, I mean, from _between_ the wall's surfaces. That could've protected me when I ran in there, right Knuckles?'

Knuckles said nothing, but Chuck must have interpreted his half-shrug as a "yes", because he nodded. 'Whatever it is,' he said, 'we can think about it later. Right now we have to lend a hand below. There's a big relief effort building up, but with no satellite or phone communication it's going to be slow going getting those services off the ground. Plus these damn walls are getting in the way of just about everything...'

'I could deliver some messages for ya,' Sonic suggested. 'Those walls won't get in _my_ way.'

'You're not going to try and go through them, are you, Sonic?' Cream looked concerned. 'It really hurt when Chris tried it, and we don't know what it'll do yet.'

'No sweat, Cream, I'll just go around them,' Sonic shrugged.

'Then you should probably get out there and start finding some way to help the public while the rest of us deal with sorting out what's going on. Do you agree, Doctor?' Chuck looked at Alisa, who seemed surprised at being addressed.

'Uh... Yes. That... would probably be a good course of action, sir,' she nodded.

'What about mom and dad?' Chris said, 'They're still out of town, right? And everyone else?'

'Last I checked your mother was on a flight to Star City and your father was fighting a verbal war with contractors in Dubai,' Chuck said. 'It's Tanaka's day off, and goodness knows where those two get to on days like this, but Ella was at the house when I left so at least we know she's okay.'

Cream seemed to perk up at the mention of that particular name. 'Ella?! Ella's here?'

Chuck smiled. 'Yes, and she'll be pleased to see you all, Cream, but first we need to get things organised here. There are a lot of confused students down there who probably want to go home and check on their families too. We've no way of knowing right now how many people these walls have effected, but it's probably safe to assume that not _everywhere_ has gone down like Station Square.'

'What about the monsters?' Amy asked. 'There could be more of them. What if another one shows up while we're doing all of this?'

'We'll just have to hope that doesn't happen,' Chuck said. 'Quite frankly the idea of a chaos creature capable of reforming itself out of scrap metal is not something we want to have to deal with now. 

We'll have no more idea about them until we establish communication with other cities and locations.'

'Then we'll have to find a way to establish a satellite link, or at least a radio,' Tails said. 'I'm sure we could run something up in no time.'

Chuck grinned. 'Great minds think alike. And I suggest we find other science personnel and get them up here pronto. This is going to require a team effort. If Doctor Armstrong would assist?'

'Um... yes sir, of course,' Alisa said, and Sonic grinned. She was all strict and serious around them, but she acted as if Chuck was _her_ grandfather as well as Chris's. 'But, if I might ask... what about the _Thorndyke Science and Research Centre_? Surely that place has better technology than there is in here.'

Chris's head flicked in Alisa's direction the moment the word "Thorndyke" crossed her lips, a look of irritation on his face. Chuck however, seemed oblivious to his Grandson's expression. 'No good,' he said. 'I checked that place on my way here. It has a wall going through two thirds of it.'

'Aw, man!' Chris looked crestfallen. 'I was running experiments in there!'

'Then I sincerely hope that none of them were chemical based,' Chuck said. 'Nonetheless, the show must go on, as they say in the theatre. We'll just have to do the best we can with what we've got until we can contact the outside world, so to speak.'

'Wow.' Sonic shook his head, trying to put all of these potential disasters into some kind of mental order. 'Now I know where the sayin' "_it's just one thing after another_" comes from. That Emerald's really dropped us in it this time, Knuckles.'

'Don't be ridiculous, Sonic, the Master Emerald wouldn't do something like this.'

'Well, yeah, maybe not on _purpose_, but you saw how freaky it was being earlier,' Sonic shrugged. 'Kinda weird, huh? To know that it's not as helpful as we thought it was.'

This was probably the wrong thing to say, but Sonic didn't realise that until it was a few moments too late. If Knuckles had been holding anything, it probably would've smashed within the clench of his fist. 'That's absurd! I refuse to believe that the Master Emerald would be guilty of deliberately abetting in all of this, it's probably just as much a victim as we are.'

'Guys, if you're going to start arguing then take it outside. This isn't the place for fist fights.' Tails said bluntly. Apparently he saw the confrontation coming and decided to put a stop to it before it began. Which suited Sonic fine. He didn't actually _want_ to fight anyone right now –he was still kind of aching from the pounding that Creature had given him.

Yeah... that had been one creepy monster alright. And not like anything he'd seen on his planet, or on this one. More of a combination put together out of the scraps from two worlds. How could a monster like that have pulled six of the Chaos Emeralds away from him the way it did? Nothing had _ever_ been able to do that. Nothing...

'You okay, Sonic?' Chris's voice snapped him out of his own head.

'Yeah... sure I am. I'm just thinking...' Sonic looked at Grandpa Chuck. 'Hey... there couldn't be anything more out there, could there?'

'More?' Chuck looked at him, frowning. In fact, several people did, including Alisa Armstrong.

'Yeah. More between the two worlds, I mean. Like... a place somewhere sorta... sandwiched between our planet and yours.' He shrugged, and when the confused stares continued, he added.

'Well it kinda makes sense, right? I mean... that monster I fought in the city... it was made up of all kinds of junk, but I'd never seen anything like it in our world. So maybe it _wasn't_ created in our world. Maybe it was created somewhere else.'

'Of course,' Alisa said, ironically. 'I suppose it was pulled out of some kind of pocket universe where all the disappeared things go when we lose them?'

Sonic bristled a little. 'Well, maybe. Why not?' He said. 'Who says that the only thing between your world and our world is the dimensional barrier? Has anyone even _seen_ this barrier?'

'You can't see the barrier, Sonic,' Alisa said, blankly. 'It's purely metaphysical in nature.'

'Well has anyone ever _metaphorically_ seen it, then?'

'Um... Sonic are you talking about... anything in particular?' Tails asked, exchanging a look with Amy and sounding concerned for his friend's sanity. Which irked Sonic a little but okay; Tails was a genius, so Sonic figured the little guy knew what he was talking about.

'Look, buddy, I may not have your smarts but I have my _eyes_. I'm sure we ran through _something_ on the way here, and it wasn't just some _meta-physa-whatever_ barrier.'

'Ran _through_ something?' Chuck looked disbelieving. For that matter, so did everyone, and Sonic was just starting to think he maybe shouldn't have brought it up when...

'You mean like a gap? Chris said, and something about the tone of his voice made everyone turn and pay attention to him. '...A gap between the world. Where that _thing_ could've been made. Something...'

'...Empty,' Sonic finished Chris's sentence automatically. For a moment they looked at each other in silent (and rather disturbing) understanding. 'Like it was there, but _not_ there.'

'Sonic,' Chuck said softly. 'I'm... fairly sure that isn't possible.'

'Chuck's right,' Tails agreed (so much for getting support on that side, Sonic thought). 'The barrier is all that keeps our two worlds separate and it's made entirely out of energy. There _couldn't_ be anything between them. If there _was_ the two worlds wouldn't be stable enough to stay together like they do.'

'Maybe you dreamed it, Sonic?' Cream suggested.

Sonic thought this about as likely as him taking classes in water aerobics. And clearly so did Chris. The two of them continued to regard each other, as if trying to read one another's mind.

'Yeah, Cream,' Sonic mumbled, not feeling any surer of himself than he sounded, still not taking his eyes off Chris. 'Maybe we both dreamed it, huh, buddy?'

'Yeah. Maybe.' Chris swallowed, and Chuck looked at the two of them, but made no comment.

Neither of them really believed it, of course, but neither of them said anything. They just followed as everyone began to file out of the room, Amy talking to Francis about how being tall had changed her fashion choices, and Tails chattering to Chuck about telephones, or something.

After all, Sonic thought, this wasn't exactly the time for them to be worrying about nothing. Literally.

* * *

'Man, that was slow, even for the Channel Three news crew,' was the first thing that Sam Speed said to her when the news van (finally!) pulled up to the entrance of the Station Square Bus Centre. 'What is it about you guys and missing the big scoops all the time, Scarlet? Good job you've got me handy to keep on top of the breaking headlines.'

Scarlet half grimaced, half smiled as she accepted his hand and clambered out of the News Van. She could hear Cynthia giggling as she did so, but was tactful enough to ignore her. _Professional, Scarlet. Stay professional and she'll have nothing to gossip about later_. 'Nice to see you too, Sam.'

'Delighted as always. Wish I could say better for our circumstances, though.' Sam's expression turned from smiling to sombre with all the speed of his elected namesake. 'Why are you here, anyway? I don't know what you think you're gonna be able to report on. We can't get even a whisper of a signal from most of the satellite apparatus, and all our phone connections are cut.'

'That's why we have recording equipment. Someone's got to keep a record of all of this,' Scarlet said, and then she gazed around. There were more people present than she had expected there to be. She supposed she had been out of the field for so long that she'd forgotten how chaotic these disasters could be. She straightened her skirt and tried to look composed and in control as people gathered all around them.

'Always on duty, eh Red?' Sam smiled at her. 'I don't blame ya. Seems as if there's always _something_ happening in this city.' He turned and nodded through the group of confused citizens that had gathered around a police car at the station's entrance. Scarlet followed the line of his sight until she saw the nearest of the walls. From up so close, they were rather intimidating. 'You wanna get any closer than this?'

'I guess so, but... those walls...'

'Don't worry about that,' Sam reassured her. 'Seems they're only a risk to the people trapped _inside_ of them. All us folks on the outside of them are perfectly safe, provided we don't _touch_ them.'

Scarlet shook her head. 'It's not that, it's just... they seem so strange up this close.'

Sam chuckled humourlessly. 'What, and they look perfectly _normal_ from further away?'

'...Good point.'

Scarlet declined Sam's hand as she ushered the crew behind her out of the vehicle. Cynthia had lost any interest in gossip as soon as she noticed the dozens upon dozens of confused and scared looking people around the entrance of the Station. This should be an interesting life experience for the kid, Scarlet thought. One camera was already being set up near the front of the Station and one of her other reporters had started prepping their microphone for a recording. Scarlet, however, had her sights set on a different location. 'So how close _can_ we get?'

'Well ,that particular wall comes down through the main tunnel outta the Station and onto the byway.' Sam nods. 'One of my team mates damn nearly crashed out in the tunnel. Didn't see it coming and had no radio contact to warn anyone else. We can go on the bridge overhead, though.'

'Good. I want to get as detailed a report on this as possible. It could be important.'

Sam nodded, and Scarlet continued signalling to a now rather nervous Gareth to keep up as she followed Sam down a deserted street towards a viaduct. The road beneath them was scattered with cars, mostly devoid of passengers. Not much damage or destruction, Scarlet noted, just buses and other vehicles leading up to the station standing in dead silence everywhere she looked, though their engines were still running, and they were cast under the sullen grey light of a nearby wall.

'Looks like these walls are causing a fair bit of chaos,' Scarlet murmured.

'Yeah. We're trying to help out with the relief and everything,' Sam said. 'But we're just not as fast as usual. Can't break any speed barriers without a good run up, and these walls... they're cutting the city up like giant roadblocks.'

'S'the operative word for it, man,' Gareth muttered, shaking his head at the surrounding chaos. 'I haven't seen a jam like this since the Red Socks played at the Diamond Stadium back in eighty seven.'

'Hey I saw that match,' Sam muttered. 'It was nothing on this.'

'It's certainly creepy,' Scarlet shuddered as they drew ever closer to the wall itself. 'I don't see what on earth could be causing them.'

'You think _this_ is bad?' Sam said. 'Come on, Red: this way. There's something I want you to see first.'

'Was whatever it is caused by the wall?'Scarlet asked, trying to keep her heels from sinking into the dirt at the edge of the road. Somehow, Sam had managed to keep his red and white racing gear spick and span and perfectly clean this whole time.

'Not... exactly,' Sam said, taking her shoulders and turning her to face the other side of the road. They were close enough now that Scarlet could make out the wobbly outlines of things trapped within the grey surface, and now she could also see what appeared to be a wrecked gasoline tanker, laying on its side half in and half out of the wall. There was a fire engine nearby, standing over the smouldering cab along with a couple of shaky looking fire fighters. They had obviously just extinguished a blaze.

'Check that out,' Sam said nodding towards the wall. 'There was a fire around that truck a few minutes before the walls came down. On this side, the emergency teams have been able to bring the flames under control before anything could explode, but their hoses can't penetrate the wall itself, so beyond that... the fire's still burning.'

'He was right, Scarlet realised with alarm. The fire that had been raging through the tanker before the wall came down right on top of it had been smothered by the still-present fire crew, but the second half –the half which still remained within the grey energy, seemed to be trapped in a single instant, the flames rising (very slowly, but still rising) higher and higher. Worse still, Scarlet thought she could see the shape of a fireman with a hose trying to run backwards away from the flame: trapped, frozen in a single instant of time. The other fire-fighters, meanwhile, lulled about in anxious confusion with no idea what they were supposed to do about a fire they _couldn't_ fight.

Scarlet peered closer into the deep grey liquid-esque surface of the wall. 'It seems... slow.'

'Yeah, it is,' Sam nodded. 'We figure it's only burning about a twentieth as fast as fire usually does. Hardly moving at all. It's like time inside of there has slowed down to a crawl, or something. And the people don't seem to be moving at all.'

'And... and the fire can't get back to this side of the tanker?'

'Nope. No more than we can get through to there.' Sam approached the wall, reaching out as if to tap it with the back of his fist. The substance seemed to quiver before he even touched it, like the surface of her water bed, but otherwise seemed solid. 'This side and that side might as well be in different worlds, for all the contact they have with each other. The rest of that tanker is being destroyed at a snail's pace. And the fire itself? That seems to be fading too... everything within that wall is. It's like its all just... disappearing.'

Scarlet took a breath, slowly allowing what she was seeing and hearing to sink in. What was happening here, she wondered? Nothing she could understand. What was she meant to report on if she had no idea what was going on?

Gareth looked at her expectantly and at Scarlet's nod, he began to unfold the portable camera.

What was it they said in entertainment? The Show Must Go On?

'Would... would you be okay with giving me a quick run through of what's happening, Sam? For the Camera, I mean.'

'For you, Red? Always,' Sam said, with somewhat less enthusiasm than usual. Scarlet nodded uneasily as Gareth finally prepped the camera and set the film. She'd had something rehearsed in her head that she'd thought she could say here, but all of a sudden it didn't feel appropriate.

''Kay Scarlet, we're rolling.'

Okay. 'This...' Scarlet started to speak, realised that in her nervousness she hadn't turned on the microphone, flicked the switch and tried to recompose herself. '...This is Scarlet Garcia, reporting to you from Station Square Bus Terminal which is currently serving as a respite area for local citizens. The current time is ten thirty am and the phenomenon currently gripping out city has been present for two hours, I'm here with Samuel Speed of the Local Police Agency which is currently aiding in the reli—'

Whatever Scarlet had been about to say was cut off; first by an alarmed yell from Gareth which sounded rather like a warning to get out of the way, then by an extremely fast blur of red-and-black motion shooting past the camera, followed by a ground-shaking sonic boom. Whatever it was, it 

nearly knocked Scarlet off her feet –and probably would have done had Sam not strategically positioned himself to grab her before she hit the ground.

The speed-blurred object didn't get far after that. It collided with a nearby stalled vehicle, seemed to stumble to a halt, and then sped up again before finally crashing in the middle of a five car pileup. Scarlet could only stare in amazement as whatever it was came to a loud and grinding halt.

'Whoa,' Sam gasped, looking like he didn't know whether to smile or gawk. 'Man, and I thought I was a speed freak!'

Scarlet ignored his half laugh and fought to right herself and straighten her hair, realising that the camera was still rolling. 'Um... well I... I suppose we've just had a change in our report schedule viewers. Thank god for recording equipment.'


	17. Sixteen: Conversations with Off Worlders

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One of those chapters which does exactly what it says on the tin. There's still quite a bit to go, though the exact number of chapters remaining depends on exactly where I decide to conclude, exactly. Let me know if it's getting tedious, yeah?

**Asides from that, standard disclaimers apply and reviews and constructive criticism are both highly appreciated. As you can see the rating has been upped, but that's not for anything in this chapter in particular. I just felt like an age-up was appropriate right now.**

* * *

Sixteen.

The next few hours passed in something of a blur. Or they did for Alisa Armstrong, anyway. Half an hour after Professor Thorndyke had concluded their impromptu meeting, yet more police officers had arrived on campus with information concerning the students' families. The process of divulging this information took a surprisingly long time. No radio signals could be transmitted across the city, due to the interference being caused by the Walls, and the officers had to deliver instructions directly. When information finally _did_ get through, it was met with one of two reactions: relief from the students and tutors who had received word from their families, and continued anxiety from those who hadn't.

Alisa didn't have to worry about anything like that: most of her family lived on the other side of the planet and were no doubt far away from all of this. All she had to worry about was the motherboard that she was trying to reconfigure for use in a makeshift communication system.

Of course, Alisa thought, she probably would've been a lot more comfortable about this if she _didn't_ have a strange, mutant fox correcting her on what she was doing every three minutes.

'That wire is out a little,' he said, pointing at a loose cable with one finger. The very same loose cable that Alisa had been staring at for the last twenty seconds trying to work out what might be wrong, in fact.

'Oh. Um... Thanks. I was going to fix it in a second, though...'

'No problem,' the fox shrugged. 'I figured I'd point it out anyway. We could lose the whole system if we screw something up here and it's not like we can send out for replacement parts.'

He went back to the board he was repairing. Honestly, the creature only ever spoke to comment on the machinery. Not that Alisa had _tried_ to start a conversation with him or anything, but still, his otherwise silence was somewhat unnerving. It made Alisa feel as if she might be imagining him. Heck, maybe she was imagining _all_ of this, she considered wryly. Maybe it was some crazy dream inspired by a longing to return to her college days, back when the world around her had been structured and organized and she'd always known what was going to happen next. Her tutors _had_ always said that she lacked creativity...

Alisa coughed. 'I _am_ familiar with computers, you know. I _tutor_ programming.'

'Oh, so that's what you do, huh?' the fox said, seeming not to notice her annoyance. 'I was wondering what your job was. I think Professor Thorndyke used to teach that subject. Speaking of which, don't you think you should watch out for the power pack there? It's still plugged into the mains and—'

'I'm aware of _that_ too,' Alisa interrupted. 'I was going to detach it. I happen to know what I'm doing.'

'Sorry, it's just that Grandp— I mean the Professor should have the building's internal power supply back soon. You could get electrocuted.'

'Yes, one expects to risk electrocution when working with _electronics_,' Alisa coughed. Being told what to do by a graduate student who looked like a twelve-year-old was one thing: but being instructed in her own field by an _alien fox_ was a little too much for her (how old _was_ he, anyway? Nine? Ten?).

' Heh. Sorry, I guess I must sound like a bit of a control freak, huh?' The fox chuckled. 'I don't mean to. It's just that sometimes, when I've got a big job on my hands, I feel like I have to do _everything_ myself. It's not that I don't trust other people with my machines or anything... Well, maybe not Sonic. I know he's good at some stuff, but... technology? _Really_ not his thing.' He picked nervously at the circuit board he was holding. 'It's just that I... I really hate not understanding what's going on in my own environment. If I don't know what's happening then I get confused, and no one likes being confused, right?'

Alisa turned and looked at him for a moment. She found herself wondering –not for the first time– exactly what his hands (paws? Whatever) looked like underneath those strange, white gloves that all these creatures seemed to be wearing.

What was _with_ that, anyway?

The fox noticed her staring and turned to face her. 'Is something the matter, Doctor?'

Alisa blinked. 'Um, no. Nothing's _wrong_, it's just... That's how I feel about a lot of this as well. Like I'm not in control of my own environment, I mean.'

'Yeah, I noticed,' Tails said, searching around for his screwdriver. 'You know, you kinda remind me of Chris, Doctor Armstrong.'

Alisa blinked. 'Christopher Thorndyke?'

'Yeah, him. He used to get so _worked up_ about things when he was younger. And then he... well... he didn't get in the _way_ exactly. Not _all_ the time. He just... tried to help out where he wasn't necessarily any _good_ at helping. This usually ended with things going wrong and Sonic having to bail him out,' he chuckled sheepishly. 'It's funny, really... He's so different now. I mean, he's _smarter_ than he used to be for one thing, and he doesn't worry so much for another.'

'Really?' Alisa sighed, quite aware that she was losing her battle with the memory board she was trying to repair. 'Well. I dare say he still has a few of those habits.'

'What do you mean?' the fox asked, and even though his tone wasn't at all malicious, Alisa found herself shuffling uncomfortably. (She wasn't used to having to explain herself to animals... but then again she hadn't _met_ many animals who could deconstruct and reformat a complicated piece of computer hardware either).

'Well if I was Christopher Thorndyke I probably would've _thought_ a little bit more before activating that portal over there and setting this entire chain of events into action.'

'Still on about that, huh?' the fox said. 'I guess you just don't want people correcting you.'

'...I'm sorry?'

'Well you've already had six different people telling you that it's probably _not_ his fault. There's no need to add me to the list,' the fox said, bluntly. 'I guess I don't blame you, though. All of the evidence we have here _does_ point towards Chris having screwed up in _some_ way, and maybe he has, but... you don't have the benefit of knowing him the way we do.'

Alisa frowned. 'There _is_ such a thing as familiarity clouding peoples' judgement, you know.'

'Sure there is,' the fox shrugged. 'And there's such a thing as _unfamiliarity_ clouding it, too. Believe me, Doctor, if I thought that Chris had something to do with us being stuck here again, I would've been the first person to let him know. Well... maybe the _second_.' He scratched the back of his head with a screwdriver. 'Knuckles would probably wanna go first.'

Alisa took a deep breath, no longer interested in her motherboard. 'It's not that I'm trying to pin the blame on anyone in particular. I'm just trying to _rationalise_ things. If you have a problem with that then—'

'Who said I had a problem?' The fox interrupted. 'You have the right to think whatever you wanna think, Doctor. I just don't believe you _can_ rationalise any of this. We've never seen anything like this before, we're stuck in a situation we have very little control over, and all we can do is deal with it as best we can. I don't think going around blaming people is a good way to do that. It always makes things worse.'

The young fox continued to take apart the memory board in his hands. Alisa, for her part, merely sat there, wondering how on earth she was supposed to respond.

'...You're a forward little guy, aren't you, Tails?'

She chose this exact moment to look up, and find the fox (Tails) looking at her through large and strangely understanding blue eyes. All of a sudden, Alisa was struck with the same sensation that she had experienced earlier with Christopher Thorndyke –the sensation that she was dealing with a person far older in mind than he was in body. 'Not really, Doctor Armstrong, but some experiences in life leave a fox without much patience for the kind of mental rings you humans like to run around other. It just wastes time.'

Alisa stayed silent for a moment, allowing herself to process the fact that she had just been given a lecture on rationalisation by an alien _Canidae_. 'So in other words, Tails, you think that if Chris _hadn't_ been messing around with that portal over there... all of this would've happened anyway?'

'Who knows? Some things you can't plan for. It's not exactly fair, but it's the way things are.'

'I suppose life doesn't really work according to any plan,' Alisa muttered, privately wishing that it did.

'Actually it probably does,' Tails said, confusing her. 'For some people anyway. They're not necessarily very _good_ plans, though...'

Alisa frowned, feeling vaguely confused by this statement (more confused than she already was, anyway). She stared at the motherboard in her hands, as if it might contain some kind of secret answer to everything. But really, she realised, Tails was right: there _was_ no simple answer to all of this. Not in the motherboard, and not in Christopher Thorndyke's portal-related activities.

'Hey! Check it out, Doctor; I think we've got a signal! Tails exclaimed, his attitude and composure changing so suddenly it was as if someone had flicked a switch inside his head. A loud humming noise began spreading gradually throughout the machinery around them. The lights flickered on and several computer screens began to blink and come alive one by one. Tails turned to look at her, smiling broadly, and Alisa was so pleased that she almost smiled back. It wasn't even evening, and yet the overhead lighting seemed to have brightened the room considerably. Even the spiral portal in the corner seemed to glisten and spark into life.

...For about twenty seconds anyway. After that, the lights began sputtering, and neither of them had time to react before the room faded back into shadows. Tails' smile vanished along with the power, and the screens of three nearby computers cracked and shattered with a loud bang.

This was followed by a rather awkward silence penetrated only by the last surges of electricity dying away from the building. So much for re-establishing a power supply, Alisa thought. '...Oh,' Tails said eventually. 'Uh. Okay. Looks like that Portal Fluctuation blew more circuits than I thought it did... S'cuse me, Doctor...'

Alisa bit her tongue as the small fox clambered over the half dismantled computer at her lap and headed for the door, opening it and yelling into the corridor. 'Hello? Hey, Chuck! Are you okay?'

For a moment there was no answer, which prompted Alisa to follow Tails to the door and add a: "Professor Thorndyke? Are you alright down there?'

There were a few more seconds of rather worrying silence, and then: 'Um... be right with you!' a voice called up to them from roughly seven floors below. 'Still—ach! Still ironing out some kinks here! _Ouch_... Damn fuse box... doesn't even come with a warning label attached, I tell you...'

Tails sniggered.

* * *

Chris was starting to think that this wasn't the best plan of action.

Or more accurately, he hadn't thought that this was the best plan of action to _begin_ with. Running full tilt at one of the walls currently imprisoning a huge section of the campus hadn't been _his_ idea, but charging at the problem and attacking it seemed to be the way that Knuckles dealt with everything. And anyway, from the looks of it he really _needed_ to punch something right now.

Of course, Chris thought, he didn't really have any right to complain –_he'd_ tried it a few times too, and had met with exactly the same result as Knuckles.

'Wow, you really went for it that time.'

'Ngh... Sure I did. Your turn again.'

'I... think I'll pass Knuckles. This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere.'

All in all, it was a pretty ridiculous situation. This was the seventeenth time that Knuckles had tried to run into the Wall surrounding the Campus Library –and also the seventeenth time that he had been flung away from it, like a rubber ball being thrown against concrete.

Chris winced sympathetically and reached out a hand to help Knuckles to his feet. Knuckles took it, hissing irritably and staggering out of the large pile of discarded boxes which they had gathered from a storage cupboard. This was meant to be for their own protection; the plan was that every time one of them got thrown back by the Wall they were trying in vain to penetrate they would land amidst the boxes and avoid serious injury. It didn't work that well in practise but it was certainly better than being bounced headfirst into the concrete building behind them. Besides, it wasn't as if they had any more practical ideas. 'You okay?'

'Sure, asides from the parts of me that have concussion,' Knuckles grumbled, swiping a scrap of cardboard off his head and throwing it back into the pile. 'I'm gonna get bruises in places I probably didn't know I had.'

'Um. Yeah. I don't think it's gonna let us in,' Chris stated the obvious.

'Hmph. We've established _that_ at least,' Knuckles muttered, clenching and unclenching his fists, checking for injury. 'Still don't know how you did it, kid, but it looks as if you running into this thing and coming out alive was a one-off event.'

'Yeah, it must've been.' Chris looked back at the wall towering less than two feet in front of them –it would've been near enough for him to reach out and touch it if it hadn't seemed to shift away like living water whenever his fingers got too close. 'But I don't understand. Why did it let me in the first time and then just...?'

'Well, you're the one who's supposed to be a scientist, right?' Knuckles shrugged. 'So start thinking scientifically. Why do _you_ think the Master Emerald is behaving this way?'

Chris bit down on his bottom lip. If Knuckles was asking for help, then things _had_ to be bad. 'I can't be sure. We didn't exactly cover stuff like this in the first semester.'

He brushed his fingers as close to the liquid-grey surface of the wall as he could. Something he hadn't had time to notice earlier was that it was difficult to even _look_ at from up close. His eyes kept skidding across its surface, refusing to hold focus. Like the matching poles of magnets trying to push each other away. 'It's like the surface is _rejecting_ us... It doesn't want to be touched. But when I ran into it before it just sort of collapsedon me...' Like a sheet of solid time, he thought silently. Like his _thoughts_ were being dragged to a standstill. Like Helen had described it: "_Winter inside, everything going numb and disappearing._"

...And he was going to stop thinking about that now before it creeped him out.

'You think it's alive?' Knuckles asked.

'Not exactly,' Chris muttered. 'I mean, I don't see how it _could_ be...'

'These Surfaces were created by the _Master Emerald_, Chris.' Knuckles pointed out. '_And_ by Chaos Energy. I say anything can happen.'

'...Good point, but still, I've never seen a substance behave like this before. Not on my world or on yours. Well...' He paused. 'Except maybe for that Trick Sand...'

Knuckles looked at him. 'You mean that stuff the Metarex created? Back on the dead planet?'

'Yeah but this couldn't be related to _that_, could it?' Chris felt his stomach churning a little. Knuckles said nothing at first, but Chris imagined that they were both thinking the same thing. The worst thing that either of them could imagine this being was something related to the Metarex.

'The Metarex are dead,' Knuckles said eventually. 'They died in space, billions of miles away from here. However...'

Chris nodded. 'Like you said: Anything can happen when you're dealing with Chaos.'

'Right. And as for dealing with the Master Emerald when it's being _poisoned_ by outside forces...' Knuckles shook his head, fists clenching tightly. Chris could hardly blame him for being so frustrated. 'Something hasn't been right with the Chaos Emeralds for a long time now, Chris. Ever since we returned from space... Before we came here it was trying to _tell_ me something. And then all _this_ happened. I haven't felt anything from The Master Emerald since we arrived on this world. It hasn't tried to contact me or acknowledged my presence in anyway. Except for once,' he looked at Chris in such a way that he started wondering whether Knuckles knew something he didn't. 'When you ran into this Wall. It reacted to _you_.'

That again, Chris thought. Honestly, he couldn't remember all that much about being inside of the Wall's surface, and it felt like he was remembering less and less with every minute. All he could recall now was the greyness and the pain and Helen's hand in his. He didn't recall anything about the Master Emerald, or Chaos Energy.

'The Master Emerald is nothing to do with me, Knuckles.' he murmured.

'I know that. But _something _must have allowed you to infiltrate this surface. Not only that, but you brought _someone else_ out of it –alive and virtually unharmed. Remember when you arrived in our world? You told us that your portal didn't run on Chaos energy, but you _still_ used the Master Emerald as a conduit.'

'Yeah, well, it mostly worked.' Chris would've smiled at the memory if he hadn't known why Knuckles was bringing it up. 'So you think that maybe something happened while I was inside the Master Emerald?'

'You were never _inside_ the Master Emerald, Chris,' Knuckles said, sounding a little amused by the idea. 'Not as you are now, anyway. Your body was converted into energy first and _that_ was what was stored inside of the Emerald itself.'

'Eggman said something like that,' Chris said. 'Essentially I was... converted into data and passed through into your world via Chaos Control, even though the portal didn't _use_ Chaos Energy to begin with.' He paused, thinking. 'So you think that means... what, exactly?'

'Don't ask me: you're the scientist. It could mean that your body was infused with Chaos Energy during the transfer,' Knuckles shrugged. 'But this was a temporary thing that has since worn off. No offence but the Master Emerald isn't in the habit of listening to just _anyone_, and Chaos itself won't respond to anything less than a Guardian or a Chaos Emerald. Then again it's also not in the habit of _blowing into pieces_...'

Chris allowed himself a smile. 'You _sure_ about that, Knuckles?'

'Oh you know what I mean, kid,' Knuckles muttered.

It seemed that neither of them could think what else to say. Chris didn't have any more suggestions, or explanations about what might be happening than Knuckles did. The walls continued to hang unmoving against the strange, green sky. It was starting to feel to Chris as if they were taunting him, or something, hiding the answers just within a surface he couldn't quite look at directly.

Chris didn't know if Knuckles would respond well to a change of subject, but he tried it anyway. 'You know we've already been through this: you're actually _younger_ than me.'

'Really?' Knuckles smiled. 'How old are you supposed to be again? Eighteen?'

'Yep. Which means I don't count as a "kid", even if I keep getting mistaken for one. I'm getting used to it. Most people here know who I am by now and don't even look twice. Just don't ask me to go on the Amusement Park rollercoaster. Too short.'

'Hm. Well, this is what happens when you trust Eggman: I'm surprised he didn't take the opportunity to get you lost in a permanent time warp or something.'

'Aren't you one to talk?' Chris smiled. 'But he _did _kind of warn me that this could happen. Actually, I'm lucky not to be any _younger_ than this. On the bright side, at least here I don't have to build a house.'

'That's probably for the best. Personally, I fear for anyone who tries to live in a house built by you.'

'Hey, I have a degree!'

Knuckles sniggered. 'Yeah, in some weird subject that most people can't even _pronounce_. Computer pre...whatever science thingamajig.'

'Computer Programming and Physics.'

'Yeah, that stuff. Whatever you call it,' Knuckles muttered, and then his face became serious again. '...I spoke to you in there, Chris.'

'What? In wher... oh, right. I... don't really remember that.'

'No, but I do. When you were inside of the wall it was almost like I could hear you thinking. Only the Master Emerald could have allowed that to happen.' He frowned at the sky where the poisoned shards of Emerald glared down upon them. 'It seems unlikely, but I think it was helping you. It was there for you when you needed it. What I want to know is why it isn't there now. And why it reacted to _you_ of all people, even for just a moment... Just a perfectly normal human being.'

'...You know we really need to work on your people skills, Knuckles.'

Knuckles smirked. 'And _you_ need to work on your portalling skills, but nobody's perfect.'

'No kidding. And portalling isn't even a real _word_.'

'Um... hey guys?'

The voice came from just over Chris's shoulder and they both turned to see Danny standing there with a slightly confused look on his face. (Chris didn't blame him. If _he'd_ walked in on the middle of a conversation that seemed to involve amusement parks, exploding chaos emeralds and Knuckles' lack of people skills, he would've been confused too).

'Oh, hey Danny. Don't mind us, we were just...'

'Running headlong into an energy wall,' Knuckles finished, bluntly. For some reason he looked irritated at being interrupted. 'Did you want something?'

'Sorry, guys, but you might wanna come back to the courtyard. They've organized this _Found Persons_ list? They're gathering names from all around the City to let people know who's... missing.' Danny glimpsed uneasily up at the Wall, indicating that "missing" wasn't exactly the right choice of word for it. 'They just reached our campus.'

'Finally,' Chris sighed, feeling grateful that steps were being taken to get this situation, if not fixed, then at least a little more organized. 'What did they say? Are all your parents all right?'

'Francis's and mine's are. The walls totally missed both of our places, but... Well... One of the Walls came down smack bang in the middle of Harlway Street, Chris.'

...Oh.

Oh, _damn._

'..._Harlway_? You mean the Percival's place?'

'They don't know for sure,' Danny said. 'It could be that they weren't indoors at the time; you know how they're always working. But... it doesn't look too good and Helen... she's pretty upset, man. I don't think I've ever seen her this freaked out before.'

Chris's heart sank straight down into his stomach, and he felt the same strange, choking sensation that he had the moment he saw the sky changing bright green over Station Square. He knew the Percivals. Helen's father –employed at a local convenience store and almost always working overtime; and her mother, who always seemed to be smiling and started cheerful conversations whenever she answered the phone no matter what time of day (or night) you called. Neither of them had taken a real vacation in eighteen years. They were just a normal, everyday couple who spent most of their lives working as hard as they could to make sure their daughter had the same chances as people who could walk did.

It was Knuckles' cough which snapped Chris out of his alarmed daze. 'Talk about perfect timing,' he muttered, folding his arms. 'Chris, are you gonna stand there gawking like an idiot or are you going to do something?'

Chris shuffled apprehensively. He knew the walls were important, but... 'I. I have to... I mean I—'

'Go,' Knuckles gave him a push with one hand. That was all the persuasion Chris needed to leave the echidna behind staring up at the grey Wall, and follow Danny back to the courtyard. Working out what was going on in Station Square right now could wait a little longer.

* * *

People were watching him.

There were dozens of them, milling around in groups around the large building he had come to a stop in front of. He wasn't especially amused by their gawking. It felt too much like he was being studied. His broken memories told him that he _had_ been studied in this way once, a long time ago, but they couldn't provide details of exactly when or why. It had something to do with the girl named Maria, and a Colony in space: he knew that much, but even these memories were vague and indistinct. Shadow cursed Eggman mentally for messing around with his head the way he had.

'Hey, will you stay still? Unless you _want_ this to get infected beyond belief.' The red haired woman muttered. She was in the process of dabbing some awful smelling stuff into one of the gashes on his arm (probably sustained when he crashed through a four story building at over a hundred kmph). The only reason he was staying still enough for her to do _anything_ was the fact that she was hanging _onto_ this arm and hovering over his probably-broken leg. He'd already underestimated the injury once, and damaging either limb further hardly seemed like a good idea.

Besides, if nothing else she was at least trying to help. He... had no desire to hurt her.

Her companion, however, was proving to be more irritating. 'Man just when I think this day can't get any weirder,' he chuckled, leaning against a camera tripod. 'We get _another_ giant hedgehog speeding up the highway. Seems like all of the crazy events around here start out that way, huh? We should create a specialised squad for dealing with you guys... We could call it the RPG: _Road 'Hog_ Patrol.'

'Sam, that's possibly the worst joke I've ever heard you make,' the woman muttered, rooting around in her first aid box for something. Shadow said nothing, but it was no mystery which hedgehog the human was talking about. He tried to ignore the spectators gathering and whispering all around them, but it was rather difficult. The entire city seemed set upon making a spectacle out of him.

'What exactly do they find so entertaining?' He muttered, staring distastefully at the crowd.

'Hey you can't exactly blame them, buddy, you did make quite an entrance,' Sam chuckled.

'Plus, people have a thing about oversized super fast hedgehogs around here,' Red said. 'They have a habit of showing up whenever things start to get really bad or wherever there's a video camera. So far you're living up to the usual standards. Stay _still_.'

Shadow sucked in a breath irritably. Damned humans, always making things out like they were worse than they were. He'd been alright until he reached the interchange of what he thought was the city named Station Square. At which point his leg had given out entirely resulting in him losing his balance. When he replayed prior events back to himself in his mind later on, Shadow would edit out the part where he skidded along at high speed for over fifty metres, collided with several stalled vehicles and tumbled to the ground in front of a fire engine.

'Who says I'm joking?' the human –named Sam, apparently– grinned. 'Though hell knows, we could use a laugh, what with the way things are right now. So, you're from Sonic's world, are you? You related to the guy or something? You look just like him, but with a new custom paint job.'

Idle human small-talk. Shadow got the feeling he'd never had much patience for it even back in the days when his memory was whole. Still, the fact that this human _knew_ Sonic might prove useful.

'You've met Sonic the Hedgehog.' Shadow said simply. It wasn't a question.

'Met him, challenged him... nearly beat him off the road a few times, too,' the human shrugged. 'You two running buddies or something?'

Shadow snorted to himself. Well, "running buddies" was hardly the term he'd use for it. The only times that he'd been in close contact with Sonic the Hedgehog (that he knew about anyway), he'd either been fighting with him or being shot out of a cannon alongside him.

'What can you tell us about all of this?' The woman asked curiously, finally putting a lid on the awful smelling stuff and locating a bandage which she began to wrap firmly around his upper arm. Shadow remained silent as she did so. 'We know that whatever's going on here has something to do with your world,' the woman went on. 'And we know that there's some kind of energy drain taking place within all of those sealed off areas... Supposedly there was even a monster sighting nearby a few hours ago. And rumours that Sonic has been spotted around the city. Is it true?'

Sam blinked. '_Sonic_? Hey, Red, why didn't you let _me_ in on that rumour?'

'Like I said, it's just a rumour. You should know better than to believe everything you hear. But now that this guy's here... She closed the first aid box. 'I'm not so sure that it's just hearsay. What do you think?' She looked expectantly at Shadow, searching for answers he couldn't give her. 'Okay, so maybe you don't know what's going on here... But you can at least tell us why _you're_ here, right?' the woman asked. 'What're you _looking_ for? Is it Sonic?'

Still, Shadow remained silent. This was, he had decided, a waste of valuable time, and their outdated medical treatments were absolutely useless to an Ultimate Lifeform. His wounds would heal faster than any infection could possibly spread. He would've left already if it weren't for that damn leg and the possibility that he might be able to learn a little bit more about this situation from them.

'Talkative fella, isn't he?' Sam said, dryly.

The woman seemed to accept that she wasn't going to get any further explanations. 'Well,' she sighed. 'Guess there's not much else I can do. I'm a Reporter, not a medic. But you should really stay off that leg. for a while'

'It'll heal,' Shadow said gruffly.

'All on its own? I doubt it.' She started at his leg distastefully. 'Any human being with an injury like that would be doubled over in agony. '

Shadow stood up...

...Which was only moderately more difficult than usual. He tested the clench of his fist through the bandages. They limited his movement too, but not excessively so, and they'd probably come away once he reached a decent speed, anyway. 'I'm _not_ a human being.'

'That much is clear,' Sam muttered, though Shadow thought he sensed a trace of approval in his voice.

'And I'm not from Sonic's world,' Shadow added. Then he looked up at the woman, whose eyes widened in realisation.

'Wait, but that means...' she breathed. 'I _thought_ I recognised you. You're him, aren't you? That hedgehog... You helped prevent the Colony from crashing into the earth six years ago.'

'That's right,' Shadow said, though in fact he only had vague recollections of doing anything of the sort, he would have to trust that those recollections were real for now.

'And now you're back to save the world again, eh?' Sam said blankly.

'I'm here for the Chaos Emeralds

'If Sonic's in this world – and I dunno if he is, mind you, then I'd bet my racing stripes that he's heading for the Thorndyke residence – my sister's place. I wanna see this guy as much as you do. I'm heading out there as soon as we get wrapped up here. Could take a while but if you want to stick around I can see you through there...'

'Thank you. No.'

'But... you can't go wandering around like this,' the woman named Red said uneasily. 'If you had a human sticking around...'

Shadow looked past Sam's outstretched hand dismissively, gazing up at the sky. 'Your assistance isn't required. I'll find it,' he said blankly, placing his weight down carefully on his damaged leg and taking a step forwards.

'What so you don't feel pain now, I suppose?' Red said, dryly.

'No, I don't. Not in the way you humans do, at least.'

'Sure you don't.' She didn't sound as if she believed him. She was probably right not to. It would've been more accurate to say that he didn't allow pain to interfere with his mission.

And that mission was still uncompleted. He knew what he had to do: locate Sonic and locate the seven Chaos Emeralds. Injury didn't change that. If Sonic was really here then it wouldn't be long before the scent of his Chaos Energy led Shadow straight to him. He didn't need assistance, human or otherwise.

However... 'Your name is Red?'

The woman appeared to swallow visible. 'Ah, no. That's just... it's not my real name. I'm Scarlet.'

Shadow nodded slightly in acknowledgement. 'Then thank you Scarlet, but you won't be required further right now.' He nodded at her confused face and turned to leave –_walking_, rather than running– across the concrete with the eyes and whispers of a thousand nervous humans beings following him down the road. He thought he heard Sam adding a "Yeah you're welcome from me too, bud,' sarcastically, but Shadow didn't turn around.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere around the edge of the city, Sonic was doing what he did best: he was running, circling Station Square as best he could, skirting around the Walls whenever they blocked his path – which was quite often.

Grandpa Chuck was right: there were hundreds of "Surfaces", as he had called them, (Sonic just called them the "ugly big grey things") scattered all across the landscape. Many of them, like the ones which were hanging directly over Station Square, were bunched up close together, while others were spread further apart, sometimes leaving a large enough gap that he cloud make out flecks of blue sky and clouds between the sheets of green and lines of grey. It was probably a warm day, but the walls had cast a slight chill over everything, as if the heat was being sucked away along with the colour. The "Walls" themselves looked totally random to him: the grey curtains that fell from each of the fragments could be as wide as large fields or as narrow as someone standing with their arms outstretched.

Sonic stopped for a moment on a rocky outcrop at the very edge of the desert. From so far below, the walls looked like strands of spider web and strange, hanging curtains connected and supported by the smouldering green Emerald pieces.

_Seriously spine-chillin', _Sonic thought. And seriously not like anything he'd ever seen before. Which was almost reassuring, in a funny sort of way. He still felt a little creeped out after that incident with the Monster earlier. He hadn't known what it was about the thing that reminded him so much of the Metarex, but it had been there, as plain as day, and Sonic had no wish to encounter anything like it again.

He'd been spotted once or twice and had stopped to help some confused looking individuals find their way to a Safety Check Point, and he'd already had his hand shaken more times than enough. He figured it would be a good idea to avoid the major crowds, at least for a little while, until everyone around here had calmed down.

He jogged back and forth across the desert for a few miles, locating yet more of the walls right in the middle of the dunes, drawing up little crystal flecks of sand into their hearts.

They went on _forever_. No matter which way Sonic looked or ran, they never seemed to end.

And there wasn't really all that much he could do about it. He clenched his fists, trying to swallow the memory of the Chaos Emeralds being torn away from him, like traction pulled away by water. He still couldn't work it out. How could they have been so powerful to have pulled them all away from him?

Sonic took a few deep breaths and brushed the dust away from his sneakers before preparing to run back into the city. Maybe there was someone else he could help out in the city, or something. Anything to get rid of the strange feeling that he had curdling in the pit of his stomach. After all, he thought, it wasn't like there was much sense in just standing around and waiting for answers.

Sonic had never been any good at waiting for things, after all...

* * *


	18. Seventeen: Awkwardness

**

* * *

**

So, the story is drawing closer and closer towards a temporary conclusion and I would really,

_**really**_** appreciate more constructive criticism at this point. I know that giving constructive criticism is tricky sometimes, but I'd really appreciate it, and I know there's a lot of stuff which I could work on. I aim to improve. **

**What questions have been raised by previous chapters? Is anything confusing you in a way which ISN'T just related to the story's current air of mystery? Is there any point at which I don't make sense? Confused by my characterisation? Whatever you wanna ask, I will try and respond coherently. **

**Reviews are, as ever, appreciated. Thank you!**

* * *

Seventeen. 

_Once upon a time, there was a hero. _

_This is nothing particularly special. There are many heroes. Many stories, if they do not start with heroes, at the very least end with them. It seems likely that most people in the world have someone they can call their own. What made this hero different from so many others was his name. _

_Names have power. Some names more than others. This is something many people do not think about enough when they are choosing names for their children, but the hero's mother knew from the beginning that a name was not something to be given lightly. And so, she gave her child two names. One for himself, which she vowed to reveal to him when the time was right, and one for others. _

_The hero's mother was proud of her child. From the moment of his birth she vowed to protect him._

_She died anyway. _

_The hero never learned his other name, though this was never important to him. He cared only about the other name she had given him, for that name was everything he wanted to be. _

_This will be important. Not yet. But it will be. _

* * *

In short, Tails thought, he was no Doctor Eggman.

Which was a good thing in most situations, but in this case kind of wasn't: Eggman had him beat by about twenty IQ points, and Tails had no doubt that he could've run up a perfectly working radio system out of all the scrap pieces in the Campus Laboratory within a matter of hours. Not that he would've wanted to help them out anyway.

As it happened, Tails, Grandpa Chuck and Doctor Armstrong gave up on the radio _they_ were trying to put together at about nine-thirty that evening. Grandpa Chuck said that even if they had been able to rig something up that night, the odds of another nearby city having come up with a device that could _receive_ the messages anyway were slim to none, but that didn't really make Tails feel any better. The radio was the only thing he felt he could really do to help Station Square, and so far he wasn't doing a great job of it.

'There's no sense in worrying about things we can't change, Tails. We'll come back to it tomorrow, once everyone's had some rest,' Chuck said, patting Tails encouragingly on the shoulder, and Tails had sighed, put down the memory board and surrendered.

'I just don't get it, Professor,' he muttered confusedly as they descended the stairs of the Jefferson building. 'All the equipment in the lab is totally shot. It's as if someone overpowered the entire room and burned everything out.'

'We could hardly find any machines that still worked, never mind ones that we could adapt into a radio,' Doctor Armstrong sighed (Tails couldn't help but notice that she was now walking around without any shoes for some reason.) 'Whatever happened to that portal, it's busted every system in there. It'll probably take either several weeks or a miracle to repair and replace everything, and that's time we don't necessarily have right now.'

'Looks like we'll have to start performing a few miracles then,' Grandpa Chuck said, pushing the door open for them as they returned to the courtyard. 'We'd be no stranger to those, let me tell you.'

Doctor Armstrong mumbled tetchily. 'Miracles on _this_ scale?'

'Oh, one or two of them,' the professor smirked. 'Let's not forget whose grandson created that portal up there in the first place.'

'...True enough.' the Doctor admitted as they stepped out into the (somewhat green) night air. 'But still, he had _working equipment_, and we don't even have that.'

'You don't think this is the only place in town with a laboratory now, do you? There'll be tools and equipment available back at the mansion.'

'Will that be enough?'

'I have a very inclusive home lab. And we're trying to construct a _radio_, not a fighter jet. It's not over until the Eggman sings, doctor, and I don't hear any out of tune, evil geniuses caterwauling. Thank goodness.'

'I dunno whether that's a funny thought or a scary one, Professor,' Tails smiled.

...And then he stopped dead in his tracks. 'Oh no, the X-Tornado!'

Grandpa Chuck looked up suddenly and the Doctor all but jumped out of her skin. 'I'm sorry,' she asked. 'The what now?'

'The X-Tornado,' Grandpa Chuck repeated seriously. 'It's a Jet that Tails created, and a powerful one at that. Where is it?'

'I... I don't know, we crash landed somewhere in the middle of the city and I had to leave it behind when... Oh, _man_, I can't believe I forgot about it!' Tails cursed himself inwardly. First he forgot to bring Gerta with him and now he was forgetting about the _X Tornado_. What the heck was wrong with him? 'I have to find it!

'Ah, make that _we_ have to find it,' Grandpa Chuck nodded, 'don't worry, we'll have it collected and brought back to the mansion.'

'What? Right now?' Doctor Armstrong looked exasperated. 'But it's just one plane; can't you leave it for the night?'

Tails was about to snap that the X-Tornado was "anything but just one plane", but Grandpa Chuck beat him to it. 'No, we can't. Not with the possibility that there are malicious creatures out there capable of assimilating wrecked matter into their bodies. Just think about what one of them could do if it incorporated the _X-Tornado_? I'd rather we didn't take our chances; especially not since it already has the missing Chaos Emeralds. Besides, there's more to the X Tornado than simply the sum of its parts...'

Alisa seemed to understand this better than she had understood anything so far today, however, for she nodded. 'It's another one of those big parts of you, huh?' she asked, looking in Tails direction.

'Something like that,' Tails shuffled. 'I really don't like the idea of leaving it out there in pieces. Besides, it could be useful to us if those monsters show up again.'

'Sure,' Alisa sighed. 'Well then I guess you should organize something. I mean, as if supposed monsters coming out of the walls and time warps tearing up the entire city weren't enough. What _else_ could possibly go wrong?'

* * *

Sonic paused at the edge of the University campus, looking up.

It was still possible for him to tell that night had fallen, even through the bright greenness that the Emeralds shards had cast across the sky. They had created a perpetual twilight, neither dark nor light, and the streetlights flickered constantly, as if uncertain whether they were supposed to be on or not. It was only now that Sonic was starting to feel the effects of not having slept in... What now? Twenty four hours? Thirty? And the time warps between the worlds and battles with Chaos energy had been playing with his head something awful, too. So he jogged at a leisurely thirty miles an hour around the campus for a while. He tried not to stop too much. Whenever he did, some person or another would force a smile and try to talk to him or shake his hand or tell him about some time they'd seen him before. There was this one girl about Helen's age who seemed to enjoy petting his fur. To Sonic's credit, he figured that he stayed still long enough for her to do so for a while –at least _three minutes_. That was practically forever.

No one was asking for autographs though, funnily enough.

The atmosphere in Station Square felt even weirder than it looked, and Sonic knew it wasn't just the time that had passed since he was last here which made things seem so different (he was still getting to grips with this whole time-warp-difference-thing, anyway –six whole _years_? No wonder the kids looked bigger). But seeing him seemed to cheer people up a little, so Sonic ran around the building a few more times for them before returning to where Chris and the others were hanging around.

Sonic had never seen the kids looking so damn depressed.

It was the look on Helen's face which bothered him the most. "Bothered him" in that it made him want to go out on the streets, find the thing which made her look that way and Chaos-Control it to 

bits. Helen had never cried before (not in front of him, anyway) but now her eyes were all red and tired looking and she kept biting her bottom lip, she and Chris talking in quiet, awkward voices that Sonic couldn't quite make out.

Sonic decided he should just bypass asking whether or not they were okay. It was kind of obvious that nobody was.

'Hey, Sonic,' Amy came up to him. She seemed to be lacking her usual enthusiasm but was still quite willing to grab a hold of his arm and hang on. 'Where've you been? We were getting worried about you.'

Sonic shuffled. 'Just stuff. Scoping out the area, checking out some of these Walls or Surfaces or whatever we're calling 'em, helpin' some people... What's with the kids?'

'You mean asides from the obvious, right?' Amy sighed. 'We've been waiting for information on Helen's parents while Tails and Grandpa try to set up some kind of radio, along with that lady with the attitude.'

Sonic winced. 'Still no word, huh?'

Amy lowered her voice. 'No... And I know I'm probably jinxing it, Sonic, but I don't think we're going to _get_ any word. If they haven't contacted us yet then they must've gotten stuck in one of the Walls,' she shuddered, holding onto him a little tighter. 'It's so _awful_. I wish we knew what was doing this.'

'Yeah well, we don't, so we're just gonna have to work with what we've got,' Sonic muttered, mostly to himself. And then he spoke louder, so that everyone could hear him. 'So... weird day, huh guys?'

'Ha. He calls this _weird_.' Knuckles muttered. 'Hanging around you, you'd think we'd be used to stuff like this by now.'

'Heh. Yeah, I guess. So those police guys are finally letting all these people go home?'

'Um... yeah. Those people who _can_, at least,' Chris said uneasily. 'I mean... A lot of the students' families got... caught up. There are refugee areas around, but they're a little tricky to get to, with the city being the way it is...' He said this while trying very hard not to meet Helen's gaze, which was easy, because Helen was keeping her eyes fixed firmly on her lap.

All of a sudden Sonic realised that he'd seen something like this before: On board the Blue Typhoon months earlier, heading home from the centre of the galaxy. Everyone had been so strange and _quiet_. In fact, he couldn't remember anyone saying more than a few sentences the whole journey (and it had taken them _two weeks _–that was a _really_ long time to not say anything). Sonic supposed that they'd all been too preoccupied with what they'd seen out there. Too busy trying to avoid the subject of the person who should've been going home with them, and wasn't.

That was what it felt like right now, standing in the middle of the courtyard. Everyone had something they wanted to say, but no one could quite bring themselves to.

If nothing else Sonic figured he had to at least _try_ to break the funk. 'Hey, all the more reason for us to find a way to knock these things down, right? We'll work something out.' He said. There were a few uneasy mutters and Helen offered him what Sonic guessed was supposed to be a smile, but something had gone wrong in the middle, so it looked more like a grimace.

Sonic detached Amy's hands from his arm and sat down atop the end pedestal of a nearby stone wall, just next to Helen and Chris. He looked around the courtyard. There seemed to be a lot less people there now: just a few groups wandering away and police officers standing nervously around flashing blue lights and wagons. 'I say we need to cut back for a while and work out what's going on.'

'Pardon us for finding it difficult to relax with the shards of a highly volatile energy source glaring down at us from on high,' Knuckles muttered, dryly.

'Hey, I'm not saying we can _ignore_ it, but nothing's gonna get fixed with us being tired out, right?'

'Sonic's right,' Francis murmured. 'It's been a long day. A long and really bizarre day and I _already_ haven't slept in forty eight hours. We should really...' she paused, glimpsing at Helen and rethinking whatever it was she had been about to say. '...Go and get some rest.'

Danny nodded. 'I guess. I mean, my parents... they're in town and... I really ought'a go meet them. Helen, you coming with?'

'Oh...' Helen rubbed her eyes. 'I... was going to stay here and help with setting up another respite area.'

Francis looked at Helen smiling. 'They don't need one here right _now_, Helen. You should come back with one of us. You can have my room; it's on the bottom floor.'

'What, and push you off to sleep in your younger brother's bombsite of a bedroom?' Helen joked, sniffing back what sounded to Sonic like more tears. 'Heck, Francis, I know I have a streak sometimes, but I'm not _that_ evil.'

'Hey if you're almost evil then what does that make me?' Francis grinned. 'Come on, it'll be no problem, and you can't stay here all night. It'll be like a sleepover.'

'Francis, you're _already_ overcrowded. Both your families will want to stick together; it's no good trying to fit me in there too.'

'Helen...'

'Just _go_, Francis,' Helen smiled, and Sonic kept his mouth shut, even though he knew a fake smile when he saw one. 'I mean it, I'll be fine.'

'Yes, I think Miss Percival here is accounted for,' a voice came from nowhere: it was Grandpa Chuck, approaching them with Tails and that lady who'd been arguing with Chris earlier. Sonic gave Tails a thumbs-up, and his small buddy offered him one in return. 'She knows how to take care of herself.'

'See, Fran?' Helen said. 'That counts as elder consent. It's alright, I promise. I'll be okay. Besides, you've got four brothers, two cats, and a mom who worries if you so much as go to the _store_ without telling her first, so you'd better get on with the getting home right now, you hear me?'

Sonic looked back and forth between them wondering whether this was one of those weird girl-things that he never understood. Then Francis smiled.

'Alright,' she said quietly, leaning down to pull Helen into a hug to envy one of Amy Rose's. 'Fine, science girl, you out-logicked me again. But if you want anything then you come round right away, alright?'

'It's a deal, dictionary girl.'

'Hey, girls, no getting nasty,' Chris offered half a smile and gave Sonic a shrug. And it was only now that he was letting go of her and stepping away that Sonic realised Chris had been holding one of Helen's hands in his (and that he was now stuffing his own hand into a pocket of his lab coat).

'Settled, then,' Grandpa Chuck looked around. 'I take it you people are in need of a place to stay?'

Cream seemed to brighten slightly, looking up. 'Is my room back to your house still the same, grandpa?'

Chuck smiled. 'Yes, Cream, your room is still just the way it used to be.'

'Goodie,' Cream looked pleased about that. 'Then we can see Ella again! Isn't that great, Chee...' she cut herself off and looked down into her conspicuously empty hands. It was kind of strange to see her without Cheese, Sonic thought. 'Oh... yeah. I forgot. Cheese isn't here, is he?'

Sonic shuffled, gawkily. If things didn't get less awkward around here soon, then he was going to have to start running places. 'Man, look at all these long faces. Come on, guys, the world isn't destroyed yet, right? It's only just getting _started_. Whatever's going on, we'll get to the bottom of it before ya can say "Eggman needs to go on a diet."'

There were a few more slightly more encouraged mutters throughout the group (except from Cream, who started muttering about Eggman needing to go on a diet, and looking around expectantly to see whether anyone had come up with a solution yet).

'Yeah,' Tails looked up, turning his fake smile into a determined grin. 'Like grandpa says, it ain't over 'til the Eggman sings.'

Sonic blinked. Actually, he got the feeling that _everyone_ blinked, at exactly the same time. 'Eggman _singing_,' Danny chuckled. 'Now that's a scary thought if ever I heard one, Tails.'

'Yeah, I know, you can totally imagine the machinery shattering.' Tails mock shuddered.

'And the walls falling down,' Cream added.

'Oh-kay, I think we've had our fill of the evil dictator related similes now, guys,' Francis sniggered.

'Yes, as much as I'm sure we'd love to stand around discussing the scariest things known to man, I figure we all ought to do what Sonic said and get some shut eye,' Grandpa Chuck said. 'And we should organize a meeting here tomorrow. I would suggest ten am. Would that be alright with you, Doctor—? Oh.'

Chuck blinked a few times, gazing at the spot where Doctor Armstrong had been a few seconds earlier. For that matter, Sonic wasn't all that sure where she had disappeared to either. One minute she had been there and the next..._ 'Man, she must really not like us if she's in that much of a hurry to get away...'_

'Hey, where'd she go?' Cream squeaked. 'She didn't even say goodbye.'

'Guess she must've had an appointment or something,' Tails mumbled.

Grandpa Chuck shrugged dismissively, taking a hold of the handles of Helen's wheelchair and beginning to push. Helen looked as if she was about to take offence at this (Sonic kind of didn't blame her. He supposed that someone controlling her chair would be like someone else controlling his feet would be for him –he wouldn't have liked that either), and then she looked up to find who it was. 'Hey! Grandpa, I—'

Grandpa Chuck smiled. 'I said you were accounted for, didn't I? Surely you didn't think that meant I was going to _leave_ you here all night. You're coming home with us, no if's or but's.'

'But Chuck—'

'Now _what_ did I just say? Somehow I doubt even our extended family here is going to fill a house with twenty seven rooms, kid. Besides, we can fix you up another mobile-aid there. A _proper_ one: I figure anything would be better that this... monstrosity that they have the nerve to call a wheelchair.' He looked at the chair he was pushing distastefully. 'I can't even work out how you're supposed to turn the damn thing. Here, you give it a try.'

Chuck pushed the wheelchair for about four feet or so... And then promptly handed control over to Chris, who happened to be walking alongside him.

Chris looked like he'd been expecting that about as much as he was expecting a tidal wave. He froze up like he'd just come face to face with a Metarex or something. And Helen must've sensed the switch, because she opened her mouth to protest but then she glimpsed at Chris and the protest died on her tongue, reforming itself as a smile. 'Hm. Well, okay. But you know, I have a really strict list for exactly who gets to do this, Chris. They're usually over five feet tall and weigh more than fifty pounds.'

Chris's face was turning that funny shade of red again, and when he started pushing Helen's chair, it took a lot more effort than Grandpa Chuck had exerted. _Man_, Sonic thought, _he really is short now_. 'Aw, c'mon Helen, no height cracks—'

'—Until your voice breaks again,' Helen finished. 'I know. Danny filled me in on the important details. You know. While we were both being idiots and not speaking to each other?'

Chris chuckled, looking embarrassed, and Sonic rubbed behind one of his own ears in confusion. He was never going to understand humans.

Tails coughed. 'So uh... before we do all that, who wants to come across town and collect a wrecked jet plane with me?'

* * *

If there was one thing worse than awkward silences, then it was awkward silences when you were sitting in the back of a car in the middle of end-to-end traffic.

Particularly when one of the people in the _middle_ of that uncomfortable quiet happened to be Knuckles the Echidna. Chris had no idea whatsoever exactly _how_ the Guardian had ended up coming with them, but he couldn't help feeling rather grateful that Knuckles had chosen to do so, rather than trying to strike out on his own, the way he usually did. Still, the constant glare on Knuckles' face wasn't doing the already tense atmosphere in the vehicle any favours. Chris was pretty sure the echidna wasn't even _blinking_.

Helen sat on his other side, watching the slowly shifting world outside the window, Cream was in the front seat with Amy, muttering sleepily, and Grandpa was ramming the accelerator and complaining about the traffic building up on every side of them ('Darn police service, you'd think they would've bothered to organize the roads in a crisis...'). Every now and then Cream would rise up in her seat and look back at them, as if checking that they hadn't disappeared, and she would wave to Tails who was currently hitching a ride on the trailer attached to the car, along with the crumpled metal remains of what looked like it used to be the X-Tornado.

'Um... Knuckles?' Chris didn't look at him directly when he spoke, but he could feel Knuckles eyes turning towards all the same. That was all the response he needed. 'About earlier... what you said... when I was inside the Wall.'

He waved a hand, trying to indicate what he meant without saying it aloud. He wasn't sure how Helen would respond to the phrase "that part when we were supposedly hearing each other's voices inside our heads". Fortunately, she didn't seem aware of the conversation; her eyes remained fixed upon the window pane.

Knuckles shuffled uncomfortably. 'What about it?'

'Just... thank you, is all. I'm pretty sure it helped.'

'You said that you didn't recall what happened while you were in there.'

Chris swallowed. 'Well, I don't, but...'

'There's nothing to be thankful for, Chris,' Knuckles said bluntly. 'You're the one who ran into the thing. I just stood outside and yelled at you like everyone else.'

'That's not it,' Chris shook his head. 'What happened back there, Knuckles, we—'

'Chris _whatever_ happened back there –and I won't pretend to understand– it was obviously a one off occurrence,' Knuckles went on, dryly. 'You couldn't repeat the event and we tried to enough damn times to be sure. Best forget about it and start working on other ways in which we might fix this mess.'

'...Okay.' Chris frowned. He tried to read something in Knuckles expression, but it was as blank as it had been the first time they met, all those years ago in the hills. He went back to gazing out of the window at the green-flecked sky. All of a sudden, it began to feel to Chris as if he'd _imagined_ their conversation earlier. As if Knuckles was the kind of person you honestly couldn't argue with about house construction and whether or not "portalling" was a real word.

Chris was about to mention that, despite the shaky state of his memory, he was fairly sure that Knuckles had done more than just _yelled_ at him, but he was interrupted by a loud: 'Oh, gosh dang it to heck,' from his grandfather, moments before the car did a rather alarming ninety-degree turn across the junction, tumbled down the grass verge and began to trundle across a neighbouring field. Cream and Amy bounced upwards a couple of feet. Helen quickly removed her head from the window pane.

Chris blinked. 'Uh, grandpa? What...'

'Sorry, traffic,' Chuck called back. 'If I wait for them to move we'll be here all night.'

Chris looked nervously out of the window at the passing trees and scrubland. 'But grandpa, you're trying to drive over the middle of—'

'How do you think I _got_ to the university this morning in the first place?' Chuck said. 'By sitting in the queue? If I'd done that I'd still be on the In-road now. Its deadlock all the way from Station Square to Lumina City. By the way, is Tails hanging on okay out there?'

Chris looked over his shoulder: Tails was struggling to right himself in the pilot's seat of the X-Tornado, with a surprised look on his furry face. 'Yeah, he looks okay, but isn't this private property that we're driving over at sixty kilometres per—'

'Nope. It's National Society for Historic Preservation land. Besides, with all that's going on now, nobody really cares.'

'But—'

'Just trust me, Chris; I know what I'm doing.'

Chris bit his lip and tried not to let on just how embarrassed he was. Helen wasn't fooled though. She still had that fretful look in her eyes that made him want to hug her (which was as out of the question as forming conversation with Knuckles was right now), but at least she was _almost_ smiling properly again.

'Hey, look,' Helen said softly, glimpsing at something behind him, and Chris knew without looking what he'd see: a blur of dark blue, streaking through the grassland alongside the vehicle, with a grin plastered over it's only just visible face.

'Hmph,' Knuckles muttered, folding his arms across his chest. 'Overkill. Just like always.'

Chris smiled vaguely as he watched the blue glow shifting across shrubs and grass, moving as if its feet barely even touched the ground beneath it.

'I missed him,' Helen said quietly, seemingly to herself. 'It's been a long time hasn't it, Chris?'

'Yeah, it has. Longer for us than for them,' Chris sighed, clinging to his seat to keep from bouncing around too much. Knuckles still had that stern, cold look on his face. He didn't even seem to react much when several bushes beat against the window pane at high speed. 'Ngh! Hey, Grandpa, remember that talk we had about using high speed air vehicles and direct flight routes? I think it _applies_ to cars, too.'

'Ha _ha_. Anymore lip from you, kiddo, and you'll walk the rest of the way home.'

* * *

It was many hours before the dirty grey creature thought it was safe to return to the streets.

The humans –peculiar, tainted creatures that they were– seemed to hang around for what felt like several lifetimes. Strange beastlings. The creature would have thought them in a hurry to get places, what with all the commotion. And yet they dawdled and dithered, hovered and hesitated and almost drove him crazy with their infernal _chat-chit-chattering_. Like a flock of nervous Flickies at noon, it thought irritably. They honestly couldn't be all that sharp in the head.

Now, in the rising green-darkness, the creature half clambered, half hovered down the side of a half-demolished building to come to rest amidst piles of scrap. It landed lightly, despite its haphazard decent, and its scratchy claws barely even disturbed the newly settled dust. It stood very still for a long moment after landing, beak pointed downwards through its oily, feathered face, eyes closed. It muttered to itself beneath its breath, something not quite music and not quite chant. 'Master here, master be here,' it muttered. 'Master comes from that which others leave to rot. Master is here.'

It was something the creature did to comfort himself, because, in spite of how often he had seen this done, it still sent shudders to the tip of his tail. It had never been entirely sure whether they were shudders of fear or excitement or something altogether different.

And then the Master arrived.

It was the shards of glass from a nearby broken window which moved first, crawling across the crumbled rocks like thousands of crystal ants, bringing with them small stones, pieces of metal debris and a thick, black liquid that seemed to pour out from somewhere within the building's rubble. The substance spilled across the ground, half liquid half solid: like the walls which were currently scattered about the city, but blacker. Beautifully black, the creature thought. _Crow_ black, the darkest of all.

There was the loud, creaking sound of metal tearing, as several nearby sheets of steel and iron seemed to rise up from the rubble and reshape themselves at his Master's will, working their way into the growing dark form. The glass became black and tough as diamond, the pebbles and strips of metal wove themselves into bones and joints, and the sturdy roots which had began crawling up from the pavements along with the black liquid grew faster and faster, wrapping themselves around metal, a body taking form out of nothing more than scrap.

And then the body was complete –or almost complete. The liquid black gunk poured into empty eyes, framed with metal and stone, and the smile his master gave was a smile of hardened glass.

The black creature shuddered. 'Overkill an' overkilling, over and over, same thing every time. Always Master's way.' The creature padded towards the figure forming from crumpled wreckage, watching, enraptured as its master's face came into vision from amidst black liquid, seeming as real as flesh. Humans would not have called him handsome, but to the Creature he was as close to it as any biped, ground-bound beastling's could be.

Of course, his Master was more than some mere beastling. 'Fall apart, back together, and fall apart back together, same for monsters, same for Master. Rotten business. And icky to boot.'

The Master chuckled the dry, hoarse laugh of a man who hadn't tasted water in decades and whose throat was bony dry and sand coated. 'Still squeamish, eh? Anyone would think you'd be used to it by now, yet my appearance still horrifies you.'

The Master reached out a hand, which he was still forming out of many tiny shreds of steel, and the creature ruffled its tarry feathers and flailed its half working wings to propel itself upwards, landing on the Master's long fingertips. 'Oh, not saying _Master_ is icky. Nonono, not Master. Creatures from the walls, now _they_ is icky. They are creatures which Master makes, though. Not have Master's flair, master's _taste_... Master is liking this new body, yes? Is appreciating it?'

'Well, it's certainly more comfortable than that wretched _Nothingness_ in between the worlds was, old friend,' the Master chucked and patted the tarry feathers atop the creature's head, before giving him a push.

The creature fluttered to the ground and staggered about a bit. He watched as his master surveyed their surroundings, turning black eyes to a green-blue sky. The creature wondered vaguely whether the Master was taller than he used to be. There was more to build a body out of here, he supposed. 'What a peculiar place,' the Master murmured. 'Wouldn't you agree, Caulk? And to think... _this_ is supposedly the other world... The one spoken of by those who rejected the ways of the Mythless. How long has it been, old friend? How much further have the worlds diverged during my imprisonment?'

'Long-time-shmong time, peculiar-schmeculiar,' the creature –_Caulk_– muttered, waving his wings dismissively. 'These beastlings are nothing like those of Great Mobius. They is all the _same_ –two legs, two eyes, two hands, too many fingers. They are all air in their heads, all chitter-chatter, all _fear_. But they die,' he added. 'Yes they die well and fast. The walls will take their life-blood quickly.'

'Yes, I'd thought that would be so,' The Master looked pleased (or as close to pleased as he ever looked to Caulk, anyway). 'How long do you think it will be before the next Dimensional Shift?'

'Soon, soon, very soon,' Caulk chattered happily. 'We has Emerald Stones now, Master. Six of seven!'

'Just six?' The Master's half metal face curved into a frown.

'Six, yes! Six be great many, Master! Six be more than most people ever had. We tricked for them!' Caulk laughed croakily. 'We fooled Mobians and tore them straight out of the hands of a Chaos Creature! Their power great, their power makes us fast. These Walls' process will take no more than two day-nights, now. Or even one day-night. Or just a few _hours_ mayhaps, if we is lucky.'

'That _is_ fortunate,' the Master turned, spattering of glass and steel following in his sweeping wake as he gazed out across the remains of the buildings. 'Not as fortunate as I would've hoped, but I suppose we shouldn't be picky now, should we? It is great magic which we have procured today, Caulk.'

Caulk ruffled its tarry feathers and smirked a beaky smirk. Praise from the Master was high indeed.

And then the Master spoke again, in a voice far stricter than before. 'But there is more you have to tell me, isn't there?' He said, firmly. 'Something which you have yet neglected to mention.'

Caulk shuffled from claw to claw, flailing his wings. 'Master's mind is quick and bird-swift, Caulk knows this, Caulk would not keep things from the Master.'

'Of course you wouldn't, old friend,' The Master smiled, dark eyes flickering in the green light. 'But nonetheless... The Curse of the Master Emerald... it has not been completed.

Caulk shuffled again, more uncomfortable than ever. 'That is so, Master. Not yet. Not all pieces of Master Emerald have been put under Master's control. Still... one piece remains.'

The master looked thoughtful for a moment, no doubt deciphering precisely how big a problem this was going to be for them. Then he held out a hand in front of his face and whistled between his glass teeth. Caulk watched as a few more shattered fragments of metal and stone and wood began to gather together, drawn to the Master's outstretched hand. 'These are the remains of the creature created to attack this place and claim the Chaos Emeralds,' Master said, calmly. 'It served its purpose well, and it is because of its destruction that I was able to form this body. Nothing is quite so painful as to exist without the sense of pain, Caulk. You understand that, don't you? I have no desire to return to that state.'

'Caulk understands, Master, he does. But there is no need to be drifting thoughts. No need for worry. The Chaos Creature was not strong enough to fight for his prize. We took them from him... Still...' Caulk scratched his beak with the tip of one wing. '...Kept one. And to use the Seven Chaos at all... To be _capable_ of that. That is impressive feats, master. That is _Crow-worthy_.'

'Yes, This Chaos being –however few Emeralds he now possesses– will simply have to be disposed of, and all efforts must be made to ensure that our control over the Master Emerald holds. If we lose control of the Fragments, then we lose our grip on both worlds. You know precisely what that means, Caulk.'

'What Master says Master gets, is true,' Caulk mumbled around a mouthful of weeds which he was now trying to uproot from the ground. He tilted his head towards the remains of the monster. 'Master has rejected this one? No rebirth?'

'Yes. I don't see the point in bringing the remains of this creature back a _third_ time. Besides, I rather like how it fits,' the Master curled and uncurled his new metallic fingers, smiling. 'There's plenty more scrap in the universe. Plenty from which to construct an army of millions to serve us as we require.'

'Master wishes to make more Scrap beastlings now? Seek fight with Chaos Creature, yes?'

'Not yet, my friend. Like I said, we will... wait. Let us see how the energy recovery from the current Surfaces goes. After that, we shall think about dealing with this Chaos Creature, weak or powerful as he may be.'

* * *

**Finally I've got the bad guy in there. I've waited a long time. I have always wanted to use the phrase "Gosh dang it to heck" in a fanfiction. !**


	19. Eighteen: Halfway Homecomings

**Aw, man, talk about a posting lag. Sorry for the delay, everyone. I really needed to work at this one, and then decided it'd be a good idea to throw two more stories into the work at the same time. This, coupled with university work, makes Scarab a busy girl.**

**Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit are still mightily appreciated. **

* * *

Eighteen. 

Of course, Ella was ecstatic to see them.

At the end of her tether with worry, and totally on the defensive, (so much so that she brandished a _broom handle_ at them as she opened the door –"well you never know what rotten scoundrels might be crawling around at times like this"), but ecstatic. It was only the fact that Cream had dozed off completely in the front seat of the car (in spite of grandpa's rather dramatic detours over uneven surfaces) which kept Ella from crying out in her delight at seeing them again. Instead, she reached into the passenger seat, picked Cream up and immediately started whispering about getting everyone fed and put in guest rooms for the night.

It was nice to know that _one_ person was still the same as always, Chris thought.

'Goodness knows I've been going out of my _mind_. At first when Professor Thorndyke _raced_ out of the house without leaving a message, I thought you people had just never heard of telephones –Chris, dearie, you _never_ have that contraption turned _on_– and then I pick up the house line...' Ella was whispering urgently as she helped bustle people out of the car. 'No signal! Not even a whisper. You wouldn't _believe_ how worried I've been about you all, I even considered borrowing the car and coming out there myself just to check on you –Tails, sweetie, please be careful climbing down from that contraption– if you hadn't come along when you did...'

'Yes, ah, sorry about that, Ella,' Professor Thorndyke shuffled as he retrieved Helen's borrowed wheelchair from the boot of the car. 'I don't think it would've made any difference even if calls _could_ get through. You're right; Chris _never_ has that phone switched on—'

'You're a fine one to talk, Professor Thorndyke, would it have killed you to tell me where you were going first?' Ella snapped, and grandpa flinched –it was kind of amazing how she could sound so scary without even raising her voice. 'No one ever tells me _anything_ these days, they just go racing out of the house like crazy men! Where is everyone else, now? Oh, Amy, _sweetie_, come _here_, let Ella have a look at you!' She reached out and pulled a somewhat unsuspecting –and half asleep– Amy into a tight hug. 'Fancy you all being pulled through here like that all over again, hm? It must have been an awful shock.'

Chris was pretty sure that Amy was talking about how nice it was to see everyone again, even if their arrival had been somewhat unexpected, but her voice was muffled by Ella's apron. Cream stirred and mumbled something in her sleep about Cheese and picnics, but was otherwise still. Ella patted her on the head and finally let Amy go.

'So looks like the phone lines are still completely dead,' Chuck murmured. 'I don't suppose anyone we know has managed to get a message through, Ella?'

Ella shook her head gravely. 'No such luck, Professor. The whole city has shorted out like an old vacuum cleaner, we've heard nothing from Mr or Mrs Thorndyke, and Topaz and Tanaka are still off hiking or doing goodness only knows what on the other side of the planet... And of course, the television is broken too –no help there, I can't even get a news report!' She threw up the arm which she wasn't using to cradle the still dozing Cream. 'And these lights are going to play havoc with everyone's sleeping patterns, that won't be good for anyone.'

'We were trying to rig up a radio back at the university, Ella,' Tails said as he climbed (carefully, just as she had told him to) down the side of the wrecked typhoon. 'But we didn't have any luck either... Sorry.'

'Now don't you go apologising for anything, Tails, it's not your fault that this happened now, is it?' Ella gave him a smile.

Professor Thorndyke coughed and signalled to Ella to come closer so he could whisper into her ear. Chris thought he caught the word "Helen" and "surfaces" before Ella's face fell.

Then she looked down at Helen, smiling sadly. Chris recognized her expression. It was the one she used to use on him when he was small and she had to tell him his parents needed to cancel a planned visit. Helen had barely managed to get out of the car and into her chair before Ella was leaning in and throwing her one free arm around her in a hug which seemed to last for a very long time. 'Now, Helen, sweetheart, we've all been having a bad day, no?' She said gently. 'Looks like we've got our work cut out for us.'

Helen looked slightly reluctant at first, but pulling out of one of Ella's hugs would have been a combination of difficult and inadvisable, so she simply screwed up her eyes, smiling and trying not to cry at the same time. 'Ella, it's alright, I promise... I'm fine.'

'Well, you'll be more fine after a good sleep. Trust Ella, everything feels better after some sleep and a nice cup of tea.' Ella gave her one last squeeze before letting go. 'We'll get all this sorted out before you know it.'

'Well, we've got Sonic here, haven't we?' Helen said, faintly. 'That's a pretty good start.'

'Of course, Sonic!' Ella looked abashed at having forgotten him. 'Chris, where would our hedgehog friend be?'

'Oh... well, last I checked he was—'

Chris began to answer, but a blue blur of speed sweeping past them and into the garden beat him to it. Several articles of clothing which Ella, for the first time in the history of her employment, had _forgotten_ to remove from the line this morning swept across the grass, disturbed by the sudden wind.

'...He's here.' Chris smiled.

'Hm. Thought so,' Ella nodded. 'I see he still knows how to make an entrance.' She sighed, seeming unsure whether or not she should be pleased about all of this. 'But goodness, I've missed you all. It's been a long six years and you honestly don't look any different.'

Grandpa leaned over to mutter to Chris and Helen. 'Well she certainly has an interesting way of dealing with worldwide crises.'

Helen smiled lopsidedly. '_That's_ Ella.'

Chris stood there watching as Ella ushered everyone into the house while talking about soup and guest rooms. The mansion seemed to be fairly distant from any of the Surfaces, the nearest of then being at least seven miles away, but the green glow of them still cast an endless shadow across the lawns and windows of the Thorndyke mansion, making everything seen strange and ghostly. 'It's kind of strange, isn't it?' he murmured.

'The Walls?'

'Not just that. All this. The crisis. When we were kids, this... I mean, it was _different_ then. Less complicated. Now this whole thing feels more like...'

'Like something a government or president should be taking care of,' Helen finished the train of thought which he wasn't quite able to put into words. 'And yet here we are, trying to think of ways out of it. In between being mothered over by Ella.'

Chris shook his head, listening to Amy muttering sleepily nearby. ('Hey, Ella, why would Miss Topaz be here anyway?'

'Long story, dearie, let's just say that Miss Topaz has been making an honest man out of Tanaka... or else he's making an honest woman out of her, truth be told, I'm not sure which way round it is.')

A slight movement nearby caught the corner of Chris's eye, and he suddenly remembered Knuckles. The echidna had been so quiet and still that Chris had actually forgotten he was there. 'Knuckles?'

Knuckles looked at him with the same mostly emotionless expression as before, but Chris didn't let it put him off (or make him feel like a twelve year old again) this time. 'You should stay here tonight It's probably not safe out there... There could be more monsters.'

'You think it's any safer here?' Knuckles asked.

'I'm sure it will be if we stick together,' Chris said. 'Come on, Knuckles, this isn't exactly a great time to be playing lone ranger.'

There was a long moment of silence, though not nearly as long as some of the ones they'd had in the car on the way over. Chris figured that if he'd managed to get Knuckles to come _this_ far with them, he could probably convince him to stick around a little longer.

'...Chris, you know how I feel about _ceilings_.'

'Well, Sonic hardly everused to stay in the house,' Chris shrugged, trying to sound casual. 'Just stay on the roof or something.'

Knuckles looked down thoughtfully. 'Does this mean I have to share sleeping space with Sonic?'

Chris raised an eyebrow. 'Probably. Just don't start a fight at three in the morning, okay? People are gonna need their sleep.'

There was another silence, then Knuckles almost seemed to smile a little and began walking –not towards the front door, but towards the pathway leading to the garden. Chris and Helen stood watching him disappear around the side of the house.

'Wow, looks like miracles really _will_ never cease,' Helen smiled faintly. 'But are you sure he's comfortable here? I know he's not much of a people person...'

'He never _used_ to be,' Chris said. 'But things change. Besides, I don't like the idea of any of us wandering around right now.'

He imagined Mr Tanaka and Topaz stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere amongst all these walls – or worse, _inside_ of one of them. They had no way of knowing precisely how widespread this catastrophe was, but Chris had a feeling Station Square wasn't alone in its predicament. He hoped everyone was okay. Deep down, a part of him had no doubt whatsoever that his mother was currently struggling to get a phone call through to someone about those dreadful walls that were making a mockery of her route home, or that dad was arguing with company bosses about whether it'd be faster to go through or around them, but still, remembering Helen's missing parents, it was difficult not to worry that the worst might've happened.

Things had been so much easier when he was twelve years old, running around after Sonic as he saved the world from Doctor Eggman or some other localised disaster...

'Hey, wipe that look off your face, Chris,' Helen said gently. 'Your parents will be just fine. You know your mother –it'll take more than some silly Chaos phenomenon to stop her. Your dad and the rest of your family, too.'

'Thanks, Helen,' Chris shuffled, feeling a little guilty that she should be aware of exactly what the look on his face meant. Like Helen didn't have _way_ more to deal with right now than he did. 'I'm sure they will be. _And_ yours.'

Helen smiled bitterly. Being who she was, she knew a sympathy ploy when she heard one. 'We'll see. We just have to hope for the best right, really, don't we?'

...Chris wondered whether punching at the walls really hard would make him feel any better about the look on her face.

* * *

This world was similar to how he remembered it, but not identical. Setting aside the massive energy surfaces that were currently carving up the place, spilling negative energy all around him, of course.

Things most people wouldn't be aware of had changed significantly in the years gone by. Not just structurally, but atmospherically as well. Shadow remembered Station Square as a place of confused emotions and sensations: just an ordinary human city, really, filled with ordinary, self-centred, if oddly cheerful humans but now...

_Now_.

So far as he knew, Shadow had always been able to sense the presence of Chaos. It was one of the abilities his creator had given with (before going insane, apparently). His ability to sense those who were _not_ connected to Chaos energy, however, was... newer. It was something he had only become 

aware of in the last few months. It had started with Molly on the planet of Cascade, and had continued ever since. Kind of like a sixth (or seventh) sense which had not awoken until after his lost memories started to return again.

Yes. Things certainly _had_ changed in the six years since Shadow last set foot in this world. The _people_ had changed. There was something stronger about them. Where years earlier there would have been utter panic at such a disaster as this, now there was merely a sullen sense of determination running through the air. Perhaps such sensations were being amplified by the massive amounts of energy being created by the Walls, but the ambience in Station Square was surprisingly powerful nonetheless.

Shadow wasn't sure what to think of this. So he opted not to think of it at all.

He was forced to continue through the city at a slower pace than he would have liked. The pain of his injuries didn't bother him (at least, he wasn't _aware_ that it was bothering him) but the precariousness of his damaged limbs was still obvious, and harming them further before they could heal probably wouldn't help him any. He was a little surprised by the fact that the bandages hadn't loosened and fallen away the moment he hit sixty miles per hour. The woman, Scarlet, had been nothing if not thorough.

Shadow followed the trail of Sonic the Hedgehog for as far as he could. There was no doubt that Sonic would head for the Thorndyke residence sooner or later, so this was where Shadow chose to stop and wait. He waited perhaps a mile or two away from the building, watching as a stream of people began to arrive at the doors. Sonic was amongst them, little more than a blue smear of light sweeping through the streets.

The sensation of Chaos that Shadow gained from the blue one was not; however, half as powerful as he'd expected it to be.

Shadow's eyes narrowed in confusion as he started at the distant blueness of Sonic the Hedgehog. Chaos Emeralds had a tendency to make their presence very obvious, even to creatures that couldn't sense them. Shadow knew this. Damn, he'd been able to pick up on the things from halfway across the galaxy, in some situations. Even with so much negative energy swelling around in the Walls, the sensation of the Chaos Emeralds should have been there with Sonic. Why didn't he sense them?

Shadow drew closer, keeping away from the main streets and dodging around at least one of the massive walls cutting through the landscape, ignoring the automatic chill it's mere proximity seemed to send right through his bones (as if the _Ultimate Lifeform _had anything to fear from fragmented Chaos). He paused at roughly a quarter of a mile away from the Thorndyke residence, eyes closed, just sensing the world around him.

After a couple of minutes, his eyes snapped open. There was no doubt now. Sonic did not have the Chaos Emeralds with him. Or at least, not many of them. They were in this world. They _had_ to be in this world. But if Sonic had held them before, then he no longer did.

The damned fool had lost the Chaos Emeralds.

Perhaps not _all_ of them (there was still _some_ essence of Chaos emanating from Sonic's location) but enough of them to matter. Losing just _one_ at a time like this was enough to matter. For a long second Shadow hovered nearby, debating two potential options. The first option was to continue watching until someone revealed what in the hell had happened to them. The second was confrontation.

Shadow clenched his one good hand tightly, ignoring the numbness of the other. He could defeat Sonic. Even like this. But he had no desire (and sensed no real need) to fight. Anger would serve no purpose here, and neither would impulsiveness.

Waiting was the only available option then.

Damn it.

* * *

He found Sonic on the rooftop half an hour or so later.

If Chris hadn't decided to step outside for a second, he probably wouldn't have realised Sonic was there. Which was kind of silly, because Sonic _always_ used to sleep there, in that very same spot just over Chris's balcony. Or what had used to be his balcony before he started university, anyway.

And Sonic _still_ noticed him first. 'Hey, Chris.'

'Hey.' Chris stepped backwards across the balcony, sitting down on the surrounding wall. 'You okay?'

'Who, me?' Sonic's ears twitched slightly, but he didn't look in Chris's direction. 'Sure, I'm cool. Just wanted to check that everything's where it used to be. Helen okay?'

'Yeah. Well, she _says_ that she's okay, though considering everything she's been through...'

What followed was the kind of silence where one person couldn't think what to say and the other didn't really care what might have been said anyway. It wasn't sullen and uncomfortable the way Knuckles' silences often were, or downright awkward like Helen's, it was simply _there_.

'I was just thinking that it must be hard for all of you. Being back here, I mean. Especially after... you know,' Chris said, reluctant to bring up the issue of the missing Chaos Emeralds. He knew Sonic was still beating himself up about that just a little, even if, in typical Sonic form, he wasn't showing it.

'Nah, it's not so bad,' Sonic shrugged. 'People seem happy to see us, and at least we know where we are, right?' He paused awhile, as Chris tried to convince himself of the veracity of Sonic's statement. 'You know, the first time I got here, I looked at the moon, just like this.' Sonic went on. 'I remember thinking "_the moon's the same. That much is true at least, right_?" It felt kind of nice to know that. Even though we were in some other world, we had that one thing in common.' He shrugged. Can't really do that now, I guess. 'All those weird Walls are blockin' my view. Can't even see the stars.'

Something told Chris that this fact bothered Sonic more than being stuck on earth again did. Having now encountered Sonic's world for himself, and been witness to its vastness and diverse assortment of people, he couldn't really blame Sonic for getting bored, being stuck on a tiny (not to mention waterlogged) planet like Earth.

But he was here nonetheless. _They_ were here. With their two worlds bound together by green stars and Walls cutting great segments out of Station Square. Just looking up into the contrasting overhead brightness and the surrounding dullness gave Chris a mild case of vertigo. It was all so _intricate_; as if it had been planned by something.

Chris found himself murmuring quietly. 'Maybe it's meant to happen.'

'Say what, Chris?'

'You said that to me once, remember? Just before you... went home, the first time. That maybe the worlds' coming together was supposed to happen, somehow.'

'Heh. Sorry, Chris, but I don't really think _that_—' Sonic pointed at a Wall, sucking the colour out of the landscape several miles away. '—Is part of any kinda cosmic meant-to-be.'

'I guess not. Still it's pretty obvious that none of this happened by accident.' Chris gazed out across the swimming pool and tried to ignore the sense of déjà vu growing in the back of his mind.

'So...' Sonic said eventually, seeming to be preparing to bring up a topic that both of them had forgotten about until now. 'What'cha see, buddy? Back in that big empty nothing we were talking about earlier?'

Chris stayed quiet for a second, trying to remember, but his recollections of the dream (or whatever it had been) were fading just as quickly as his memories of being inside one of the Walls. 'I don't know. Nothing much... What did _you_ see?'

'Nothing much.'

'Heh.' Chris's face twitched into a smile for barely a moment. 'So why're we still talking about it?'

Sonic didn't answer. It seemed that neither of them knew what to do with this interesting bit of information that nobody but them would believe. A huge space of nothingness in between the two worlds? Blackness with shining Chaos shards in the darkness? It certainly _sounded_ crazy.

'I... guess that it wasn't exactly _nothing_,' Chris said. 'Not really. That wouldn't be _possible_. I just don't know how to explain it in short sentences.'

Sonic shrugged. 'It's a big roof, and a long night. We've got time _and_ space.'

Chris hesitated, then realised this was an invitation and continued to hesitate for several seconds longer before clambering onto the balcony railing and pulling himself up onto the rooftop. He'd never been up here before, and he couldn't say he _liked_ the constant sensation of falling forwards that came with sitting on a slant.

'Something's happening, isn't it?'Sonic said, eventually, and Chris was slightly surprised by the serious tone of his voice. He tried hard not to shuffle, uncomfortable as the tiled roof was.

'Something...' he muttered. _Something_ indeed.

'And _we're_ wrapped up in it. Not just me. You too, Chris. We saw the same thing, didn't we? We both saw the Emptiness between the worlds. Except that you got a better light show than me. And then there's what Knuckles said about you going into one of the walls, too.'

Chris bit down on his bottom lip. 'You haven't tried out Francis's theory yet, have you?'

'Not yet, but I don't think I'll have to. I can't even get within a foot of the things without my fur standing on end. And you _know_ what happened when I took the Emeralds close...'

Chris nodded. 'I know, it's frustrating. We're not sure what's going on at all. I doubt _anybody_ in the world is sure, right now. But I do know one thing, Sonic: We're gonna need the help of all you guys to fix things.'

'Heh' Sonic smiled, clearly not understanding in the slightest but going along with it anyway, just the way he always did. 'That's what everyone I've spoken to today is saying.'

Sonic brushed some invisible dirt off his arms. The hedgehog's other hand, Chris now saw, was clenched tightly around the blue Chaos Emerald –the only one he hadn't lost during the battle in the city– which couldn't possibly have fit on his person, and yet appeared to have, anyway. 'Did I mention that there's a statue of me in the middle of town? Or at least it's meant to be me. A _statue_. What's the deal with that?'

Chris smiled. 'Ah... yeah. You've been gone a long time. People wanted to remember you. All of you.' he added on the end. 'They just only budgeted enough for one statue in the annual city renovation cost list. Amy got a section of the park, though, and Tails has a street named after him.'

Sonic blinked. 'Oh, man, tell me they didn't call it—'

'_Prower_ Avenue,' Chris grinned. 'It's that street where the X Tornado crashed into a barber's store, once.'

'Oh yeah, I remember that! Heh! Hey, what about Knuckles?' Sonic sat up, grinning, and seeming far more eager to explore this topic than the one about Master Emeralds and Walls and nothingness. Chris had to admit, he didn't think he'd seen Sonic quite this... talkative. It probably should've worried him, but to be honest, he was mostly just grateful for a bit of ordinary conversation (or as ordinary as it got, when you were taking to blue hedgehogs). 'Does he have anything named after him?'

Well, normalcy was overrated anyway.

'Not in Station Square. But dad _did_ bring back some instant noodles from one of his business trips to China a couple of years ago...'

* * *

**Yes, I ship TopazTanaka. Fun Times. Also, Ella is quite right about the therapeutic properties of a good cup of tea. **


	20. Nineteen:Nothing Funny About Growing Up

**Ye gods this took _forever_. So sorry for the delay. Since University started again it's become a bit of a struggle to get this story ready for posting. I'm in my final year now and my workload is a bit hectic but I will continue updating as regularly as possible. Promise. **

**Now ****first: a little info for you, just in case anyone is a little confused by my terminology: "**_**Surface**_**" is the name I've given to the total area of a location covered by an energy beam from the shards of Master Emerald. Everything within the scope of one of these beams, (such as the area in which Helen was trapped earlier), is part of a "Surface". The "Walls" meanwhile, are only the outer sides of the Surfaces. So the Walls are like the outer shell, while the Surface is the inner white and yolk, to utilise a rather eggy metaphor.**

**Standard disclaimers apply, and the more concrit you can offer, the better. Thank you. **

* * *

Nineteen. 

The creature slithered across the concrete in the manner of a slug.

Without feet or eyes to show it the way, barely sensing the world around it through the black surface of its skin, it squirmed beneath the glow of street lamps and illuminated signs, pausing whenever it sensed the movement of police officers nearby, or saw the light of a passing vehicle. Anyone who caught a glimpse of it lying on the sidewalk might've mistaken it for a puddle of dirty gasoline spilled over road kill. It only moved when it was certain no eyes were watching.

Its progress was painfully slow, hindered by everything in its path from stalled cars to pebbles; and though blind, it felt the warm, static-like sensation of a nearby Surface cutting through the streets. Though it had been born within such a Surface, it couldn't return until its mission was completed; for now it was to keep well clear. The creature changed its course again, continuing to crawl until it found what it was looking for.

Close by lay the wreckage of an oil tanker which had overturned in the recent panic. It had been half sealed within the Surface, cut away from the world by a deep greyness, like liquid-air. Still, the half exposed was more than enough for the creature. It seeped forwards towards the tanker –and then paused, sensing the vibrations of approaching footfall. ("...Change our tires to the wet weather C-Type; work on the suspension a little and we might be able to compensate enough to steer around these things at high speed...'

'Sure, Hector, but you think we've got time for that? I mean I miss the open road as much as you, but we've got bigger fish to fry.'

'Hey, we're the S-team, man, high speed is our standard, and during conditions like this...')

Silence fell after that. The humans milling around a nearby shelter paid the tanker no attention, too preoccupied with their own inconveniences, and the creature went unnoticed as it crawled across the reinforced steel surface, seeking a weakness or a gap of any kind. It found one in the opening hatch atop the vehicle and began to seep in through a crack too thin and tight for even the oil inside to escape.

Moments later it was gone.

* * *

It took Alisa Crowley over an hour to make it back to her apartment, already knowing that she wouldn't remain there for long. Station Square was still unfamiliar to her, and the current state of the roads and pathways made finding her way even more difficult than usual. Suddenly, struggling to locate the right campus this morning and then losing herself in a sea of anxious students, calamity and creatures from another world felt like a distant memory.

She stood outside of the abandoned apartment complex, gazing upwards. The building had been sliced in half by an energy Wall, and though her own apartment had been missed, Alisa still didn't want to spend any length of time in close proximity to one of the things. There was nothing for her in that three room apartment anyway. Her only purpose was back at the university, with the broken computers and the tickling secrets of the inter-world portal system. Most of her recently-graduated brain was telling her return to the campus and continue working on the radio.

A small part of her, however (by far the most childish part) continued stubbornly refusing to comply. After all, she _had_ left the presence of one of the most influential men in science without even saying goodbye; and even though she'd always been able to assert control over any situation at university, few people on campus had even _listened_ to her earlier. It was difficult to look on top of things when you were hobbling about in painfully high heels and had forgotten your ID card.

And apparently, she was the only person who even thought this whole situation was at all insane. It was only now that Alisa had time to put everything she had witnessed today into context, and realise just how little she truly understood. She was only a programmer. In spite of all her talk earlier, she didn't _really_ comprehend portals or breaches how the Walls functioned. She'd never imagined meeting a creature from Sonic's world, (hadn't they given that place a _name_? Or did everyone just call it "Sonic's World", like he was only thing that mattered?) and those she had met so far didn't exactly fill her with confidence about its... stability. They acted like vaguely competent children, determined to take on the role of adults. Most of them _were_ children.

And yet, as ill-prepared as they seemed, they _still_ had a better idea about what was going on than she did.

'_So what are you going to do now, Alisa? What do you do when you're not trusted in a place where nobody knows you? When you don't understand things that even a six year old, anthropomorphic bunny can comprehend?'_

Alisa sat down on a flight of steps, gazing distastefully up at the Wall. Returning to the backwater town of Sol Alasmo seemed like a pretty good idea right now. At least there nobody did crazy things like create functioning inter-world portals, and huge Walls of alien energy didn't fall on you from the sky. In Sol Alasmo nobody ever seemed to think beyond next week's grocery shopping. Alisa had hated living there. Had hardly been able to wait until her University application was accepted, and she could finally get away once and for all. And yet, all of a sudden, Sol Alasmo didn't seem so unbearable anymore.

It was as she was sitting there pondering the insanity of this realisation (because only insanity could drive her to considering _Sol Alasmo_ a decent place to live) that Alisa encountered... Something.

She couldn't be sure exactly what that _something_ was: it moved too quickly for her to catch more than a glimpse of it. What she _could_ make out was a shapeless blur of red and black, shooting through the streets before making a seemingly miraculous hairpin turn at the end of the no through road and disappearing back in the direction it had come. It moved so lightly that Alisa barely felt it. Had she not been looking straight in its direction as it passed, she probably would've put the sudden change in the air down to a light wind or something.

Alisa simply sat there staring for a long moment, trying to work out what she had seen: surely not Sonic (it hadn't been blue enough), but what else could've moved so fast? Another one of _them_?

After another minute or so of waiting to see if the speed blur would return (it didn't), Alisa sighed and got to her feet. Entering the building, she headed for her apartment (using the stairs rather than the elevator; be damned if she was going to trust _anything_ mechanical in this city until these Walls were dealt with), located a pair of sturdy, non-heeled shoes and returned to the doorstep. Then, after tossing her high heels casually into a conveniently placed trash can, Alisa began walking in the direction that the red and black blur had taken: back towards the University.

It was probably meant to be a sign or something.

* * *

Her mother's crockery was broken.

Cream didn't think there was a single piece left intact, and she had searched for ages, amongst the long grass and the glowing trees that towered overhead. There was no sign of it. Which was worrying and... Very silly, really. Breaking one cup or a plate was one thing, but how was she going to explain to mother about having broken _everything_?

This _was_ the forest –the one which had grown around the ruins of the Temple after their world's planet egg had been returned, she was sure of that much, although everything around her was strange and bright and she couldn't look at anything for long without having to blink. And yet it all still seemed so strange and unfamiliar. She had no idea what had happened to the food she'd brought. Maybe the shifting green shapes around her had eaten everything.

Which made as much sense as anything else that was happening right now, Cream supposed. _Night_, she realised. It should've been _night time_ now. The sun had been setting what felt like only minutes ago. She had been with Knuckles, and the Master Emerald had been whole and beautiful besides them, not broken and bleeding into the forest.

Knuckles should have been here, too...

The crockery didn't care for her confusion. She could see it now, rising in pieces amongst the trees. It had started dancing, the fragments jumping into the air and skipping around in a breeze that wasn't really there. She'd lose them forever if they made it into the sky, Cream thought. She tried to grab at the pieces as they rose but they kept changing shape and pulling away. The harder she tried to catch them, the faster they moved, determined not to be caught. Cream made a jump for the nearest piece –the remains of the milk jug– and managed to grip it tightly in both hands.

The milk jug didn't like this. It didn't like this at _all_. It fought and pulled, dragging her this way and that through the trees that spat their glowing leaves into her face and tried to trip her with their roots. Cream could only go along with it, too frightened to let go, until she remembered that things like flying crockery and glowing trees didn't happen in real life. They only happened in things like...

'_Oh.' _

Cream opened her eyes.

The room was dark, and there was no sign of flying crockery or glowing trees anywhere, though there _was_ the faintest tint of green light coming through a nearby window. Cream sighed, pulling the sheets close and slowly remembering where she was.

Grandpa Chuck was right: Her room at the Thorndyke place was almost exactly the same as she remembered it, and somebody had left the landing light on and her door ajar, just the way she liked it. Cream knew who must have put her here, and felt a little annoyed with herself: how could she have slept _right through _meeting Ella again?

She looked at the little cat-shaped clock on the bedside table. Small hand to the three and big hand to the nine... Ella would surely be fast asleep now. It wouldn't be right to wake her, Cream thought. Still... it was lonely and awfully quiet here tonight. Whenever she _used_ to wake up at strange hours of the night at the Thorndyke's place, there would be noise and activity outside of her room. Tails and Grandpa, tinkering with a machine in the workshop, or Sonic's footsteps pattering on the roof... At the very least there would have been the soft sound of Cheese, chirruping in his sleep. Now the room was completely silent, and the green light shining through the windows made everything feel colder than it should be.

Cream clambered out of bed.

The corridors were just the same as she remembered them too. Cream found herself glimpsing in every direction as she walked silently around the house, privately wishing that she had Cheese with her. She knew more time had passed here than in her world, and had been worried everything would have changed a lot in the meantime. She wasn't _home_, but at least the Thorndyke House was still the same.

She descended the staircase quietly, counting each footfall as she went. (The seventh one creaked on the way down, she reminded herself. And she could jump from the third one from the bottom, if she wanted to, but not now, since the noise might wake someone up.) She felt the cold tiles of the foyer before she realised she wasn't wearing shoes, and tiptoed the rest of the way across the room.

It was then, in the doorway to the living room, that Cream came across someone who reminded her that some things really _had_ changed a lot after all. '...Helen?'

'Oh, Cream,' Helen looked up sleepily from the sofa, fingers poised on the pages of a book in her lap. The wheelchair the doctors had given her sat empty besides her. 'It's _late_, what're you doing up at this hour?'

'I could ask you that too,' Cream whispered. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your reading.'

'Well, I'm not _reading_ exactly,' Helen smiled. 'I... guess I just couldn't sleep either.'

Cream took an uneasy step backwards. Helen was a grown up now –all tall and pretty, like mother, only different. Did that mean she was like the other grownups now? Was she was going to send her back to bed, the way that mother or Ella would, if either of them caught her up at this hour?

Helen patted the chair besides her. 'Come see, if you like.'

Well, she wasn't being sent back to bed at least, so Cream smiled and clambered into the chair, resting against Helen's side and looking down at the brown book, now closed, in Helen's hands. There were silver letters painted on the front and Cream spelt the words out in her head: T...H...O...R...

'Thorndyke... Family... Album,' she said, eventually. Ah. So this book was a _photo_ album.

'Mmhm,' Helen opened the book again. 'Take a look.'

The first few photographs were so old that there were no colours in them. Every image was accompanied by a few lines of neat, blue handwriting, and the pictures were filled with smiling people, all posing neatly for the pictures, and one larger, grey and white picture that almost filled a whole page by itself, of a young man Cream had never seen before. 'Who's that, Helen?'

'You don't recognize him?' Helen asked, sounding a little surprised. 'That's Grandpa.'

'Grandpa Chuck?' Cream blinked. 'Really? But... it doesn't _look_ like him.'

'Well, it does, if you look at it a little more closely,' Helen said. 'This picture was taken when he was much younger, you see. About my age, I think.'

Cream stared at the image, hardly able to believe that the Grandpa Chuck she knew and the man in this picture could be one and the same. 'Oh... he changed a lot, didn't he?'

'Yes. Most people do, as they get older,' Helen said gently while turning the page. There were more pictures after the large one, also in grey and white, and some in dull brown, with an amazingly young grandpa sitting next to a pretty, long haired lady who looked a little bit like Chris. Both of them were laughing loudly and didn't seem to care about the camera. Then there were pictures of people Cream _did_ recognize. All of them in colour now.

'Isn't that Mrs Thorndyke?'

'Yes, it is. Doesn't she look lovely?'

'Uh-huh. That dress is very pretty. Is she going to a party?'

'...Well, kind of. That's a wedding dress. These are from when Chris's parents were married.'

'So that must be Mister Thorndyke next to her, right? His hair's a little funny, but it's definitely him. Where's Chris?'

'Ah, I don't think he _existed_ at the time,' Helen giggled, turning the page and pointing at the next image –this time, the picture was of a human boy not much older than Cream, hanging upside down from monkey bars. 'He's there, though.'

'_That's_ Chris?' Cream stared. Since when did Chris hang upside down from things on _purpose_?

'That's Chris.' Helen grinned. 'It's kind of strange, isn't it? Seeing people as they were so long ago.'

Cream gazed at several more images, and on the next page, the photographs began to look newer. She could even remember being there when many of them were taken. There were pictures of Sonic, Amy, Tails, and herself for a few pages, and then there were only humans in the pictures again. Cream stared, enraptured, at the images of Chris and Helen and Francis and Danny, growing steadily older and older with every new photograph. In one picture at the beach, Danny was pulling a funny hand gesture behind Francis's head, and in the next, Francis was tackling him to the sand. They both looked a little older than they had been when Cream went home –mere months ago to her and _years_ to them.

In the next few pictures they were older still: dressed in funny blue gowns and hats with tassels. Amongst these, one picture stood out to Cream particularly clearly. A boy with a familiar, sheepish smile, blue eyes and hair sticking up around his ears. 'That looks like...'

'Yup. That's Chris again,' Helen said, smiling faintly. '_Before_ he took the portal to your world... These pictures are from our High School Graduation last year, so that's almost exactly how he's meant to look now.'

Cream continued looking for another minute or so, trying to take it what she was seeing. Helen was right: it _was_ strange, seeing them all at different ages, but it was somehow even harder to understand when she looked at Chris. She'd had time to get used to the way that Helen, Danny and Francis looked now, but she had never seen Chris looking any older than twelve before. 'He's... tall.'

Helen giggled. 'Well, I guess his height is one thing that he didn't get from Grandpa Chuck. Though to me, I think almost _everyone_ is tall.'

Cream turned to the next page. The photo album was almost full, and the last few pages were filled with tickets, leaflets from movies with Mrs Thorndyke in them and newspaper clippings, as well as a few more loose photographs. It was the final picture which caught Cream's eye: a set of four frames, like the ones you got from photograph machines, with two people crammed into the same booth: Helen, and Chris –the _older_ Chris. It looked like the photos had all been taken before they were ready and they hadn't had time to say "cheese". But that was okay, since they were laughing in almost every frame anyway.

Except for the last one. In _that_ picture, Helen has wrapped her arms around Chris's neck and her lips pressed against his face. It looked like she was aiming for his cheek, but missed and got his nose instead. Chris was smiling anyway, as if that didn't really matter.

Cream stayed looking at these photos for an entire ten seconds before realising what they meant.

'_...Oh_.'

They really were grownups now, weren't they?

Helen began turning the page then, and Cream looked up at her thoughtfully. 'Helen, were you going to marry Chris?'

Helen's reaction was a delayed one. At first, Cream thought that maybe she had upset her in some way, but then a grin broke across Helen's face and she started laughing. It was a strong, contagious laugh that was far too loud for this hour of the night, but Helen didn't seem to care, and the more she listened, the less Cream felt as if _she_ cared, too. She went from blinking at Helen in confusion to laughing out loud along with her, even though she wasn't entirely sure what was so funny.

It was almost, Cream felt, like she'd _needed_ to laugh like this for hours and hours, but hadn't been able to because of everything that was happening around her. Now she finally could, and realizing this made her laugh even harder. The photo album fell off their laps with a loud "thud!" and Cream tried very hard to choke back another giggle, clutching her hands over her mouth to hold it in, chest aching.

When she could eventually form a straight sentence, Cream managed to chortle: 'I... guess that does sound a little funny, doesn't it?'

'N-no,' Helen chuckled, wiping her eyes. 'No... Th-that's not exactly _why_ I'm laughing, Cream, it's... Oh, it's _complicated_.'

Cream didn't understand, but she wasn't sure how to ask Helen what she meant. Helen took a deep, shuddering breath, before leaning down and trying to pick the album up from the floor. Seeing her having trouble, Cream hopped off the sofa and lifted it up for her.

She hadn't expected to be pulled into a hug when she turned to hand the book back to Helen, but she was happy about it anyway. The laughter that had been bubbling up inside of her had died away now and turned into something else–something tight and cold and tired. She climbed back onto the chair besides Helen, hugging the photo album in her arms, and wondering why neither of their tears had stopped as soon as the laughter had.

It was Ella who found them the next morning; the two of them curled up on the sofa together with the photo album sitting on the coffee table. She threw a blanket over them, tutting quietly to herself about late hours before tiptoeing from the room. So Cream missed her second meeting with Ella again, too.

* * *

Even with all the strange things he'd seen and all the worlds he'd visited to over the last year or so, Tails had to admit that he'd never woken up to a green sunrise before.

Not that it was _really_ a green sunrise. It was just that the sky was still filled with the pieces of Master Emerald and glowing with a green luminance as a result. And not that he had actually _woken up _to it, either. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, but still, Tails found he couldn't relax. There was a constant jumping, wriggling sensation in his stomach: as if he had swallowed a swarm of live Flickie-bugs and a few mealworms.

Talking with Chuck last night had been... strange. Great, of course, but strange. Even though grandpa still acted and talked and got carried away with things the same way he always had, Tails just couldn't shake the feeling of something being different. Not just because of the Walls. Something about grandpa had changed on the _inside_, too. He didn't race around as much as he used to. He seemed a lot... older.

Well, of _course_ he was older, Tails reminded himself. Things had changed here while they were gone: not hugely, but just enough to be noticeable. Helen, Francis and Danny were proof of that.

Well, one thing was for sure, Tails felt as if he wouldn't be able to relax at _all_ until these Walls were dealt with. Resigning himself to the fact that this was as close to a break as he was going to get for a while, Tails started walking around the garden, taking note of the many small changes that had happened since he was here last. Sonic would probably be glad to see that one of the two swimming pools had disappeared and been replaced with a giant planter, filled with carnations and sweet peas. Tails remembered something Cosmo had said once about gardening being great therapy. Maybe he should give it a try...

Tails had thought that he was alone until he noticed a shuffling of movement near the clothes-covered washing line, and heard a familiar voice with in an exasperated foreign accent. 'Oh, dearie, did you try to get _any_ sleep at all last night?'

Even thought he recognised the voice, Tails still found himself jumping a little at hearing it so unexpectedly. At this rate, he was going to start experiencing flashbacks or something. 'Oh, Ella. I'm sorry; I didn't know you were here.'

'There's no need to apologise, sweetie, this old maid is a lot stealthier than she looks, yes?' Ella poked her face around the washing line and looked at him for a moment, smiling; then she went right back to her washing.

Quite frankly, it was a bizarre sight. The skies above were glaring with such unnatural colour. Stars (or what _looked_ like stars,) were glistening in the morning light, and yet here was Ella, calmly hanging out the washing just the way she always did. 'But you really should have tried to get some sleep. I passed by the workshop just a few hours ago to hear you and Professor Thorndyke chattering away about all those complicated things; it was just like old times. You always did talk and work a lot more than you slept.'

'Sorry. Um... would you like some help with that?'

'So nice of you to offer, Tails but I can manage,' Ella smiled at him. 'There's been a lot less work for me, you know. If it weren't for Mister and Mrs Thorndyke spending so much more time at home these days, I don't even think I'd still be working here.'

Tails blinked as he approached the peg basket and lifted it up for her anyway. 'Wait, you mean Chris doesn't live here?'

'Well the kids all moved into university accommodation at the end of last month, dear,' Ella explained. 'Though that plan look as if it might have to take a sabbatical. No children of ours are going to be running around out in _that_ city right now, you can count on that.'

'Oh...' well, that wasn't exactly what Tails had expected. Humans were kind of funny when it came to stuff like leaving home. He and Amy and Sonic had been living on their own for ages already, and Tails wasn't sure if Knuckles had ever _had_ a family, but humans seemed to have stricter time limits about when they were allowed to leave their parents. 'I guess it must be a little strange having so many people to look after all over again, huh?'

'Not at all. In fact it's nice to have someone to run around after again. If only our circumstances were a little better, I'd be quite happy...' Ella smiled. Then she stopped smiling quite suddenly, sighing and looking at the sky. 'You know, sometimes I surprise myself by how I deal with these things, Tails. Do you know what the first thing I thought of this morning was? So silly of me, but I was worried that these green walls might be messing with my laundry's drying time. Of all the things we have to fret about, I got all worked up about my _laundry_. It's a funny thing, how we look for normalcy in the midst of chaos, isn't it?'

Tails smiled. 'Well, where Sonic is involved chaos is never far behind, Ella. I guess we got used to it after a while.'

'Ah, yes, that's very true, dear.' Ella nodded. She looked at him firmly for a moment. It was only now that Tails noticed Ella didn't look _quite_ the same as he remembered her. Her hair was longer for one thing, and there were a couple of extra lines carved in around her still smiling eyes.

...Everyone was getting older.

As if reading his mind, Ella said: 'You know, you all look just the same, dearie. Or almost the same. Little Amy is doing something new with her hair now, yes? But the rest of you... why, there's hardly a strand of fur out of place. And after all this time, too.'

'I'm kind of glad about that,' Tails said softly, smiling, though he wasn't sure whether he was smiling for Ella's benefit or his own. It didn't feel like a completely _real_ smile, but it didn't feel completely _fake_, either. He _was_ glad he still looked the same. 'But... Sometimes I don't _feel_ the same way that I used to, Ella...'

'And why is that, dearie?' Ella asked, calmly, with the voice of somebody who really was genuinely interested in the answer, however strange that answer might be. Tails suddenly realised just how much he had missed everyone here on Earth these last few months.

He shuffled uneasily, holding the peg basket a little higher while trying to think how to explain what he meant. It was difficult, because he wasn't entirely sure _how_ he felt different to the way he used to feel, he just _did_. He didn't look at things in quite the same way as he used to. He didn't get so excited about things like newly built machines and salvaged parts. Didn't race to greet people whenever the doorbell rang. Maybe it was just because he was growing up now, too, but...

Ella pegged another sheet on the line, still waiting patiently for his answer. Tails opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, their conversation was interrupted by a loud splashing sound, and a yelping noise which sounded rather like Sonic. Except that it _couldn't_ be Sonic, because Sonic wouldn't ever _make_ a frightened noise like that.

Unless water was involved, of course. 'Uh... Ella, did that sound like what I think it was?'

'I wouldn't be surprised, dear. Looks like Sonic has just found the most recent building renovation.' Tails and Ella exchanged a look before ducking under the clothesline and heading around the side of the building in the direction of the splashing noise.

And there was Sonic. He was crouched besides what looked like a small blue pool, and judging by the way he was coughing and dripping water all over the paving stones, there was no mystery about where he had just been. Chris was standing at the balcony overhead, looking down on the scene with a half asleep and half amused look on his face.

Ella chuckled to herself. 'Ah yes, just like old times...' she said.

'Whoa,' Tails said, trying very, _very_ hard not to laugh. 'Sonic what _happened_?'

'Bleugh! Good _question_, buddy,' Sonic coughed, spitting out water. He looked up sharply in what was as close to panic as Sonic ever came these days. 'Chris! What the heck is this supposed to be? What happened to the floor?!'

'That would be the sunken Jacuzzi, Sonic,' Chris said, leaning on the balcony and grinning at the dripping hedgehog standing by the pool.

'_No_, this would be a giant puddle of water that somebody stuck right in the place where I always jump off of the roof!' Sonic muttered. 'The heck is it doing here?'

'Well mom and dad had it installed a couple of years ago. I guess they forgot to empty it the last time it was used. Sorry, Sonic. It's better than landing in a swimming pool, right? At least I don't have to fish you out this time.'

'Phoot!' Sonic spat out water, brushing down his dropping fur. 'Yeah, sure, I totally appreciate that! Now How am I s'posed to get off the roof every morning if you stick a _Jacuzzi_ in my spot?'

'Well, you could always try hopping to the balcony, crossing the connecting room and using a front door like everyone else.' Chris suggested.

Knuckles chose that moment to appear from somewhere in the garden looking really ill-tempered and half asleep, (he had probably been made even more irritable than he already was by having to share a rooftop with Sonic all night, Tails thought.)

'Urgh. You know the last I checked it hadn't even hit seven a.m. yet. Can you people try and keep it down for...' Knuckles trailed off as his eyes fell upon Sonic, who was still standing dripping at the edge of the Jacuzzi. 'Have you been swimming?'

'_No_, Knuckles I _haven't_ been swimming!' Sonic snapped. 'What kinda 'hog do you think I am?'

'A wet one, by the looks of it,' Knuckles muttered, looking Sonic up and down. 'I thought you didn't like water?'

'I _don't_ like water! I hate water!'

'Then why, pray tell, did you jump in the damned pool?'

''Cause I didn't know it was _there_, that's why,' Sonic muttered, knocking water out of his ears with one hand. 'An' for the record it's a Jacuzzi. They went and built the thing while we were away, _right_ in the place where I always jump off the roof! Didn't they take into account the sleeping habits of your average hedgehog when they put this thing here? I could've drowned there! And Chris quit _laughing_, will ya? This is totally not funny!'

Chris looked like he was having difficulty complying with this request. Tails didn't blame him. Sonic _did_ look really funny and it had more to do with the atypical look of shocked annoyance on his face than it did the dripping. If there was one thing in the world which could actually rile up Sonic the Hedgehog, then it was an unexpected encounter with H2O. Ella was chuckling sympathetically, and even Knuckles looked like he was trying hard to stick to just smirking.

Then Chris seems to stop laughing suddenly, his eyes falling on something in the distance. His sudden silence confused Tails into looking upwards. 'Chris? What's up?'

'Ah...' Chris seemed to be blinking hard, as if not quite believing what he was seeing. '...You guys haven't looked at the walls yet this morning, have you?'

'The Walls? No, why?' Sonic frowns, shaking water off his shoes and hopping back up onto the balcony, turning to look in the same direction as Chris. He blinked a few times, and then his face automatically assumed the same expression as Chris's had.

'What're you two gawping at up there?' Knuckles muttered, tapping his foot impatiently.

Neither Sonic nor Chris answered for a moment. Tails felt the Flickie-bugs in his stomach start fluttering about again. 'Sonic? Chris? Are you guys okay?'

'Uh... Yeah... Tails, remember what you said to me before, about wanting to run some tests on the Walls?' Chris asked.

'Yeah what about it?'

'Well, I don't think you'll be able to now,' Chris muttered. 'All the Walls have disappeared.'

* * *

**Just in case you were wondering, "Sol Alasmo" is a... somewhat uncreative anagram of an actual, existing place. And if that's not a clue about Alisa's actual upbringing then I don't know what is. **

**Also, this might not interest you, but I picture the slug creature at the beginning of this chapter as resembling a black version of the "Red Weed", as illustrated by Geoff Lydham in the original "**_**War of the Worlds**_**" LP booklet from in the 1960's. Anyone with a taste for nineteen sixties science fiction art should really check it out. It's totally worth a look. **


	21. Twenty: Chao Time

**...Oh alright so the chapter title is a bad pun. Sue me. Sorry for the delay in getting this up. University has been very busy, of late. **

**Standard disclaimers apply. Reviews and concrit are, as ever, appreciated. **

* * *

**Twenty. **

'_Listen.' _

'_Shh! Listen!' _

'_It's quiet... the sky is quiet. '_

'_We can't hear it.'_

'_We can't hear Chaos.' _

'_Gone... it's all gone away.'_

'_No.'_

'_No.' _

'_Not gone. Still there. Still bright in the sky, still warm. '_

'_Still there. Just quiet. Still.'_

'_Waiting.'_

'_It's waiting?'_

'_Why? What is Chaos waiting for?'_

'_Who knows? Chaos waits because Chaos wants to wait.'_

'_Chaos makes plan?' _

'_...Keep listening.' _

'_Yes, keep listening. Keep very still, just like Chaos.' _

'_Shush.'_

'_Shhhh. Listen. Follow the light. Soon enough, Chaos will tell.' _

**

* * *

**

Something was wrong.

He knew this, in the same way that he knew exactly how fast he could run across a certain terrain. In the same way he knew he could command Chaos Emeralds with one touch. In the same way he knew when Amy was about to blow a fuse. The knowledge was instinctive, buried deep inside of him.

Deeper than he'd ever cared to look, really. Sonic wasn't fond of all that philosophical stuff. All it ever accomplished was boring the Living Chaos out of him. Sonic didn't like to think. The important thing was to run. Thinking _distracted_ you from running, and therefore thinking was to be avoided.

So why the heck couldn't he _stop_? Thinking, that was. _And_ running, at the same time. He knew he was headed in the direction of the nearest Wall (or where the Wall had been, anyway); and normally running just a few miles wouldn't take him longer than a minute. Now, however, his feet seemed to be dragging against the asphalt, holding him at roughly sixty miles per hour all the time. He couldn't go any faster.

...Something was _wrong_.

And worse still, Sonic couldn't help _wondering_ about it. His brain was working faster than his feet, asking a million questions that he couldn't find any answers to.

'_...An' why're you wasting energy wondering about stuff you can't do anything thing about? Get'cha head in the game_, _Sonic_. _Just _run_ until you find your answers. That's what you always do, right?_'

Telling himself this didn't make him go any faster, but it almost felt as if it did, so he kept repeating the words over and over in his head. It was almost like he was running in a dream –going nowhere fast, the target seeming to get further away from him with every step rather than closer.

Until a streak of black and red appeared on one side, that was. It flickered in the corner of Sonic's eyes as he navigated the rough turf of an old soccer pitch, and at first Sonic thought he must have imagined it. Then it flickered in front of him a second time, slicing foliage to shreds with the force of its passing.

There was only one thing in the universe that could create a motion blur like _that_. Besides him, that was.

Sonic felt a lot less surprised that Shadow was here than he probably should have. In fact, he found the black and red hedgehog's survival rather comforting, in light of everything. If anything, he was a worthwhile distraction from all of those annoying questions rushing around inside of his brain at sonic speed. 'Heh. Figures. That guy always finds his way back.'

**

* * *

**

'I still say this is a _good_ thing, right?' Amy yelled over the engine noise as the car sped over the same scrubland it had travelled through last night (with its passengers clinging to their chairs for dear life). Every now and then, the blur of blue identifiable as Sonic burst past them, his form moving irrespective of any undergrowth in his way. 'The walls were causing all this trouble, _and_ bringing the Monsters here. No walls mean no monsters.'

'I don't know, Amy,' Chris said. 'The walls may have disappeared, but the Emerald Fragments don't look like they're going anywhere. Plus, we still don't know what happened to the people trapped inside those things.'

Amy shrugged. 'Well, sure, the sky's still not behaving very... sky-like, but at least we can drive in a straight line.'

Chris bit his tongue to keep from commenting on the fact that Grandpa's driving was anything but in a straight line. He really didn't want to have to walk the rest of the way. '_Should've chosen to ride with Tails and Helen; it would've been safer.'_

'Sure, it's great,' Knuckles muttered scathing. 'If you believe that No News is Good News.'

'Well, I _believe_ that there _not_ being any creepy, energy sucking Walls all over the city is Good News,' Amy snapped. 'I'm just trying to look on the bright side, Knuckles. And Grandpa, could you maybe _slow down_ a little?'

'Sorry kid,' Grandpa said brightly, 'but not if you guys want to beat Sonic to our destination.'

'And I'm trying to look on the logical one,' Knuckles went on, utterly ignoring grandpa's comments. 'Something crazy is still happening up there and we still have no idea what it is.'

'Then help us out, Knuckles,' Grandfather said, in the tone of voice he usually reserved for important debates or arguments with the President. T was actually quite impressive, Chris thought, how he managed to hold a tone like that while steering an old vehicle over rough terrain at sixty miles per hour. 'What do _you_ think is going on?'

Knuckles continued staring out of the window, hardly seeming to move, even though the rest of the cars passengers were being shaken around in their seats. 'I don't know. Like I already told you last night.'

'You have to know something, Knuckles,' Amy pressed. 'You're supposed to be the Guardian of that thing, right?'

'Yeah and a lot of damn good it's doing me now,' Knuckles muttered, his hands clenching into tight fists with nothing nearby for him to use them on.

'_It's still not listening to him,_' Chris thought._ 'He's not getting anything from it at all. And if _Knuckles_ can't sense anything_, _then what the heck are _we _supposed to do about it?_'

'Then we'll have to find another way to work out what's going on,' Grandpa said. 'Knuckles, you're still the Master Emerald's Guardian, so you're the best source of information we have. Even if you aren't connected to it right now, you still have your experiences to go by.'

'Meaning?' Knuckles asked.

'Meaning so what if you can't _sense_ what the Master Emerald is up to?' Grandpa said. 'If I had a jet engine that wasn't working, I could still probably tell you what was wrong with it with my eyes closed. Instincts and suggestions aren't the same thing, Knuckles.'

It seemed to take Knuckles a few seconds to work out what grandpa meant. And surprisingly enough, his reaction wasn't at all angry. 'You're saying I should trust my other instincts?'

'Precisely.' Grandpa said. 'Now you're getting it. You're counting on the Master Emerald to tell you what to do, but right now, it's shut off. Don't rely on your innate affinity with it to get us out of this. It's obviously not working. Try going with what is working: like your brain, for instance. I presume you _do_ think, occasionally?'

'Well, he normally reserves _thinking_ for times when there's nothing to get mad at,' Chris said, mistaking Grandpa's sarcastic question for one with genuine merit and not realising his mistake until it was too late. Amy giggled, Knuckles scowled in Chris's direction, and Chris suddenly found the world rushing by outside his window to be very interesting.

The car finally lurched up a bank and leapt back onto what had been a jam packed road last night, and was now almost totally deserted. The abandoned highway was spookily, apocalyptically still. Or at least, it had been until Chuck Thorndyke's car graced it with its presence. Amy yelped as the car clattered rather hard against the pavement.

Yeah. Grandpa's driving was really something. Especially when he was scientifically stressing out.

'_Yeesh_. I think I should've gone with the others,' Amy muttered, trying to recover a shoe which had apparently fallen off in their jarring dash through the field. 'Helen's driving is probably safer than this. I bet Tails isn't losing any fur!'

'Well, he could be actually,' Grandpa grinned. 'He's not with Helen; he's in the X-Tornado.'

Chris blinked. 'The X-Tornado? But that was in pieces when we brought it here last night.'

'Well you don't honestly think that he and I spent any of last night sleeping, do you?' Grandpa chuckled. 'What a waste of a reunion that would've been.'

'You mean it's fixed?'

'Well... almost. There are still a few kinks to work out but it should be able to fly in a straight line for a while. Probably.'

'Probably?!'

'Well, there _is_ a chance that he's losing more fur that Amy is right now.'

* * *

'_Uh... Tails?'_

Tails grit his teeth, gripped the X-Tornado's control stick for dear life, and wished he'd invested in a few more replacement shock absorbers before forcing the poor plane back into the air again.

'W-w-what is it Helen? I'm a l-l-l-little b-b-busy! Y-y-you okay?'

'_Um, sorry, but are you okay up there?_'

'Y-y-yeah s-s-sure I'm f-f-fine.' Tails lied. The whole cockpit was shuddering so much he was afraid that it was going to shake itself to pieces. Truth be told he'd been reluctant to take her up at all in the state she was in, but the X-Tornado was the only flying craft they had right now, and therefore the only vehicle which could give them a Bird's eye view of where the Walls had been.

'_Are you sure?_' Helen's voice through the walkie-talkie (thank god they still worked, at least) didn't sound convinced. '_Because I can hear an awful lot of rattling_...'

'C-c-c'mon Helen, you know that c-c-communicator is s-s-supposed to be for emergencies!' Tails mumbled. Then he ducked to avoid a screw flying past his right ear. Goodness only knew which panel it'd been flung out of. _Definitely_ should've invested in some shock absorbers. 'I-I'm f-f-fine, the X-Tornado is j-j-just a little buggy right now, you don't n-n-need to check up on me.'

'_Sorry, I'm just... Tails, is that smoke? You're pretty high up, but I'm sure I'm seeing _smoke_ coming out of your tail end, there.' _

'Uh, y-yeah it is.' Busted. 'I-I-I'm kinda just hoping she'll s-stay in the air for l-l-long enough for m-me to get a g-good look at this!' He gave the control panel a couple of whacks. This usually helped when the X-Tornado was playing up. This time, however, it only resulted in a loud hissing, fizzing noise coming from behind the fuel display.

'_I told you not to fly that thing,_' Helen's voice sighed. She couldn't seem to decide whether she was annoyed or not. '_Are you getting anything yet_?'

'A-almost,' Tails said, though really, he was guessing –the X Tornado's navigation equipment was completely shot. 'I'm n-n-near the place where the first w-wall came down.' He glimpsed upwards into the sky. He could see the thick, grey clouds of what would've been a rather gloomy morning, peering through the greenness covering the sky. The Emerald Fragments continued glittering like stars, and just looking at their cold brightness sent chills to the tip of his tails, even though he wasn't entirely sure why. 'I-I really hope they don't d-decide to come back again, b-b-because I don't think Chris is g-gonna be able to pull the same trick tw—.'

This was the moment at which the X Tornado dipped lower, the area he had been looking for came into view below him, and whatever Tails had been about to say to Helen died in his throat. 'Oh... my goodness.'

'_Tails? What is it? Can you see where the Wall was? Is there something there?' _

Oh, he could see it alright, Tails thought, suddenly becoming oblivious to the angry rattling of the X-Tornado's cockpit and the spitting of its control panel. 'N...nothing. There's nothing there.'

The nearest Energy Wall to the Thorndyke residence had been, in Tails estimation, at least a quarter of a mile in diameter, covering half of a large field and a small children's play area. The shard of Emerald which had created it still hung in the sky, but the green-grey curtain which has been spreading down from it –the Wall itself– had disappeared completely.

...And so had everything on the ground beneath it. Tails could see nothing of the field, and nothing of the play area which had once been there. The ground where the Wall had been touching the soil was dry and pale, as if all the colour and vigour had been sucked out of it. A huge area of land lay desolate. There was no sign to show that a healthy crop or a park had once been there.

'Oh, _wow_. The Walls, Helen, they... What _happened_? W-what does it look like from down there?'

From Helen's non-reply, Tails could only assume that she had just arrived at the location too, and whatever Tails was seeing from the air must have looked ten times worse from the ground. 'H-Helen?'

Silence. Not even the sound of her car's engine whirring in the background. Helen had apparently been struck dumb by what she was seeing, and when she eventually did muster the nerve to speak, all she could come out with was a strangled sounding: 'Oh.'

Tails couldn't say he blamed her.

* * *

For the longest time, the small gathering of humans and other worlder's simply stared at the huge expanse of land which, only hours earlier, had been blanketed by a wall of grey. Now the Wall had disappeared –and had taken everything else with it. Where once had been fields, grass and patches of scrub, there was now nothing. Quite literally.

It was Amy who eventually came up with a description of what they were seeing which went beyond "a big, white nothing". 'Wow... It's like one of those weird crop circles gone horribly wrong.'

Grandpa coughed uneasily. 'Well, I was going to call it a disturbing scientific anomaly, but your wording works as well, Amy. I've never seen anything like this before.'

Grandpa was right. Even the air seemed to have been sucked dry and cold, Chris realised, as he took a few cautious steps into the white expanse. The space within the white area felt several degrees cooler than the outside. He reached down and touched the ground with his fingers. The earth beneath where the wall had been was a pale grey and white in colour, and clung to his fingers like static.

'What... what is that stuff?' Amy stammered. 'Is it ash?'

'I would imagine it's something like that,' Grandpa muttered,

Chris frowned for a moment, then he became aware of a strange sensation in his body that made the hairs on his neck prickle. A kind of chill reaching deep inside of him,. He remembered again what Helen had said when she emerged from the wall. "_Like winter inside, only greyer_." 'Dead,' he muttered. 'It's all _dead_, grandpa. The whole landscape's been disintegrated.'

'Leaving behind nothing but this,' Grandpa nodded sombrely, leaning down and grasping a handful of the ashy whiteness. 'The residue of what was here before.' He turned to look at Chris, eyes bright with something Chris hadn't seen in years –_anger_. 'This is insane. Simply _insane_. Whatever those Walls are they're capable of drawing out the energy of whatever they touch on a _molecular_ level. They've sucked this entire landscape dry, along with everything that was within range, in a matter of hours. Everything and every_one_.'

Chris felt himself paling as what his grandfather was saying began to sink it. 'Grandpa, you don't think that this happened to the people who were trapped as well, do you?'

The look on his Grandfather's face clearly confirmed the suspicions he didn't want to voice. Chris felt the cold weight in his chest growing heavier, a sensation clutching at his ribcage, as if a Metarex was trying to claw its way out of there. _What about Helen's parents? _

'But... but maybe they all just disappeared somewhere,' Amy suggested hopefully. 'I mean, they can't have all vanished altogether, can they? People don't do that.'

'I don't know, Amy,' Grandpa said. 'Look around. You can feel it in the air. And remember Helen's description about how it felt inside of the walls? I think something worse has occurred here than just a few people being taken somewhere else.'

Sonic arrived so quietly and quickly that Chris wasn't aware of his presence until grandfather spoke to him. 'Sonic, how's it looking from over there?'

'S'pretty much the same around that side too,' Sonic said. He spoke casually but Chris could tell from the look on his face that he was just as freaked out as the rest of them. 'Just grey, grey, grey an' nothing else. It's like a desert, only colder... Hey, Chris, you alright?'

Chris opened his mouth to answer but no sound came out –only a breath of air made visible by the cold. Didn't changing temperatures in horror movies mean that the ghost was approaching? Was the essence of all the people taken by the Walls still hanging in the air around them?

No, Chris decided after a moment. There wasn't an essence of _anything_ here, alive _or_ dead. The coldness all around him could only be compared to what he had felt inside of the dream he'd had when Cream and Knuckles arrived: the dream of flying Emerald shards and blackness. An empty space reaching for as far as the eye could see. Chris wrapped his arms around his chest and willed himself not to tremble. That dream was beginning to make a creepy kind of sense. Standing within the dissolved area, the real world felt miles away from him, something distant and untouchable.

'Of _course_ he's not okay, Sonic!' Amy exclaimed, sounding slightly frantic. 'There... there used to be _people_ here. People and trees and flowers and animals, and now there's _nothing_.'

'But this is just a field,' Sonic said. 'It's in the middle of nowhere, right? There _couldn't_ have been anyone here.'

'But the walls came down in more places than this,' Amy pointed out. 'They were all over the city! And we already know that some people have been trapped in them.'

'So much for looking on the bright side of things, huh?' Knuckles said, dryly.

'Oh alright, so maybe that was a little premature,' Amy retorted. 'It's not like I was expecting us to find huge chunks of land which had been drained of their very life energy and... and Chris, I think you'd better come away from there.'

Chris turned to glimpse at her, uncertainly. 'What, why?'

'Because your face is turning the same colour as the ground, that's why,' Amy snapped, and before he could protest she had grabbed his arm and pulled him sharply backwards.

Almost the second he stepped outside of the white field, Chris felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The changing sensation was so sudden that he had to blink and grab hold of Amy to keep his balance. Weird. He hadn't even realised how bad he felt in there until he stepped outside again. 'Whoa... t-that's strange.'

'Okay, new ground rule: nobody goes inside of the big, empty, white thing,' Grandpa said. 'And nobody touches any of that grey stuff either. We'll wait for Tails and Helen to get down here so we can get some samples.'

'Uh, yeah speaking of them...' Sonic muttered, pointing at something behind Chris. Hearing the sound of her car pulling up behind them, Chris finally remembered Helen. He turned around slowly to see her still sitting behind the wheel; the Walkie-Talkie Tails had given her held near to her mouth, and her eyes staring straight ahead at the white field.

Chris swallowed. 'Helen.'

'What do you think we should tell her?' Amy whispered, and Chris realised that she hadn't yet let go of his arm. 'If her _parents_ were trapped beneath one of those things...'

'She's probably already worked it out,' Grandpa muttered, sounding simultaneously proud and nervous. 'I think I should be the one to tell her.'

'Wait, grandpa. I'll do it.' Chris turned the rest of the way towards Helen, the last of the nausea fading as the Metarex in his stomach started gnawing away again with renewed force. He paused for just a second, struggling to think how he was going to phrase this. How do you tell someone that their parents might've just disappeared? 'Knuckles?'

Chris wasn't exactly sure what it was about his tone of voice which made Knuckles turn and pay attention to him, but _something_ about it had the desired effect. 'Yes?'

'What... what grandpa was saying to you in the car, about working out what the Master Emerald is doing. You have to start thinking about that really, really quickly.' Chris said, with forced composure. He gave Knuckles a look which he hoped passed for cool, calm and collected, but probably looked just a little bit desperate. 'We have to work this out, understand? Before anything else happens. You're the only one who be able to find some answers to all this.

Knuckles seemed to stare at him for a moment as if weighing up the severity of what Chris was saying before nodding. Amy finally let go of his arm sharply, as if she hadn't realised she was still holding onto him either. Sonic, for his part, remained completely silent, facing away from them, but obviously listening to every word.

Chris took a deep breath and started walking towards Helen's car.

* * *

When he first saw the beautiful brightness filling the skies around where the Master Emerald was, Cheese the Chao went towards it happily.

He had been worried earlier. Something had not felt quite right about the world. His tummy had turned with uneasy feelings and his wings had tingled with anticipation that he didn't quite understand. He understood it well enough now, though. The sensation meant that something big was coming. He wasn't certain whether this was a good big thing or a bad big thing, but it certainly didn't _feel_ bad.

The brightness had awakened him from a dream about fresh rivers and waterfalls that seemed to fall forever into a blackness speckled with green stars. It had been a lovely dream. He was sad to let it go when he woke up, until he saw what he was waking up _to_. The sky before him through the bedroom window seemed as bright as if it were just morning.

Cheese recognized the light very well. He could feel that it was born of Chaos. Just like Chao were. Just like _him_.

Mother didn't seem to like it quite as much as Cheese did, though. When he joined her at the window frame, she was and wringing her hands and frowning a strange frown. 'Oh my... Oh _dear_, Cream, what have you gotten yourself into now?' Mother whispered. She sounded worried. And now Cheese understood. _Cream_ must have been out there, in amongst all of that beautiful whiteness. Cream had gone on ahead of him to see the light for herself. Of course. That would be just like his Cream.

Cheese decided that must go to her. But almost as important was that he went into the brightness in the sky. He could not be certain what it was, but it gave him the same, strange sensation in his tummy that he got when he tried to eat a whole cake in one go. A sort of nice-but-not-nice feeling. Chaos tended to give him feelings like that: happy and uncomfortable ones that he simply could not ignore, even if he wanted to. He had tried to explain these feelings to Cream, but she never quite seemed to understand him.

Maybe she would understand now, he thought hopefully. Now that she had been inside of the beautiful whiteness.

Mother was so busy rushing to the telephone and calling that nice crocodile who went into space with them once, that she didn't notice Cheese picking open the bedroom window and climbing out into the night. She didn't see him fluttering away across the garden, through the flower beds and over the rose bushes, up and up into the sky.

It didn't take long before his brothers and sisters started to appear. They had seen the whiteness too and now they came from every corner of the world, flying towards the bright lights that covered the entire planet. They scrambled out of the undergrowth, unlatched their owner's bedroom windows, climbed out of their rivers and lakes, and flew together idly towards the columns. Cheese coo'ed at his closest brothers excitedly as they flew unhurriedly together towards the bright lights in the sky.

They were going to see Chaos.

* * *

**Look Cheese is a boy in my mind, okay? Maybe Chao change gendered, like those frogs in Jurassic Park, or something... I'm not sure. Make your own minds up. **

**And just ****in case you're wondering precisely how it's still night time Sonic's world while it's already 36 hours later on earth, I have two words of explanation for you: Time Warps.**


	22. Twenty One: Cloudy With a Chance of Chao

**Sigh. Sorry for the delay. I lost approximately half the chapter when I saved the file incorrectly, otherwise this update would've been here a couple of weeks sooner. As it happens rewriting lost work is not my favourite activity. **

**Standard disclaimers apply, reviews and concrit are appreciated, if there's anyone still watching...**

* * *

Twenty One.

Honestly, the Chao _did_ come as a bit of a surprise.

Not that Ella wasn't used to the peculiar happening around here. Even in the years after Sonic and his friends went home, barely a day had gone by in the Thorndyke residence without, say, something exploding in the workshop, or an aircraft crashing on the front lawn, or a group of good natured, but _teenaged_ students decimating the household's coffee supply (Ella swore it wasn't possible for someone with the stature of a twelve year old to handle much caffeine in one go, but goodness only knew he had to be putting it _somewhere_).

And that was only what took place on a day when Mrs Thorndyke _wasn't_ home. After eighteen years in this job, Ella was been fairly certain she was shockproof.

She had not counted upon a day when it would rain Chao.

The first couple landed lightly on the roof not long after everyone else had left to investigate those strange Walls. Hearing the sound of soft thuds overhead, Ella had left the kitchen and gone outside, only to find the rooftop populated by a number of small, confused looking, blue creatures. They had staggered around on the tiles for a while, seeming somewhat shell-shocked, before descending into the garden and making themselves comfortable around the swimming pool.

The next few Chao to arrive had landed in the pool itself and were now happily splashing away. Then, glimpsing upwards into the sharp, green sky, Ella watched as Chao came falling in their dozens, chirruping and chortling, singing and fluttering as they landed in flowerbeds and trees and on rooftops. Those few of them that managed to regain use of their wings before landing would buzz about like bewildered moths before settling and regaining their senses.

Ella, for her part, merely watched this scene unfolding in barely contained astonishment. For several long minutes, a virtually constant stream of Chao seemed to fall from the sky. Then their numbers petered off, leaving at least a hundred of the things flying around the garden.

'Well I'll be a saint... now old Ella really has seen it all, no? Where on earth have you all come from? Or should that be where _not_ on earth, hm?'

Some of the Chao seemed to voice their agreement, cheering and laughing and gesturing, as if trying to tell her their story and how they had come to be back in this world. Unfortunately for them, Ella was not particularly fluent in Chao-speak. 'I'm sorry everyone, but I have no idea what you're talking about. But why don't I go fetch someone who might?'

She was about to turn back to the hose when a familiar glimmer of red caught her eye. A Chao with a bow tie. _'Chao!'_

'Cheese, dearie, is that you?'

The Chao answered by burying itself into her and cooing happily. 'Oh, it _is_ you. My, won't Cream be happy to see you?'

'_Chao Chao!' _The hovering orb above Cheese's head morphed into a heart-shape as he chattered away excitedly, with the manner of a creature that had much to say. The other Chao chorused in agreement. They seemed to be singing, a bright, contented tune that Ella couldn't for the life of her comprehend.

Green clouds and raining Chao, Ella thought to herself. Well, who could've expected that?

'Well, if you little ones are going to be sticking around, you had better hope we have the space.' Ella tutted, before turning back into the house. Cream? Oh Creamy, there's someone out here to see you, sweetheart.'

* * *

There were people _everywhere_, milling and muttering amongst themselves the way humans often did. Gathered on pavements with suitcases and standing around in endless queues that Sonic couldn't work out the point of. And almost everyone had one of those annoying cell phones glued to their ear, taking advantage of the fact that their calls had somewhere to go again.

Except for those who were looking at _him_, that was. And a lot of them _were_; smiling. It took Sonic a few stops to realise that it was him they were all smiling at in the first place. Just like yesterday. And Sonic wasn't all that sure how he felt about it. He had taken to zipping at high speed around the surrounding area, trying to take in everything that he was seeing in brief stops and glances, always keeping his eyes open for that familiar black and red blur. He never found it.

In the end, he took to the top floor of the nearest building and sat there at the highest point, looking out across the green sky and trying to ignore the huge patches of white, empty land where there used to be buildings and trees and grass and _people_. The destruction looked even more intense from up above.

It was a little surprising that Amy managed to find him. But then, she always did. 'Sonic? Why're you hiding up here?'

Sonic tilted his head backwards over the rooftop entrance. 'Hiding? Who's hiding?'

'_You_ are,' Amy jabbed a finger at him meaningfully. 'You've been shooting around avoiding people all morning; I've hardly even _seen_ you.' She stepped forwards, arms behind her back, gazing upwards into the sky. 'Though personally, I say sitting around staring at what's going on up there isn't much healthier than running yourself into the ground.'

Sonic shrugged. 'Way I see it, there's no place safe right now, Amy. Not if those Walls come back.'

'Yeah... and Grandpa thinks they could reappear at any time now,' Amy sighed. She didn't say anything more after that. Which was... kinda odd, really. Usually Amy could always think of

'Helen an' Chris okay?' Sonic asked, pretty much just to end the strangeness of her silence.

'Yes. Or at least I think so. They're with grandpa and Tails at some kind of... testing lab... thingy, in the university.' Amy waved her hand vaguely in a gesture that probably meant she didn't really understand, and didn't especially want to. 'They want to find out whether being in those Walls has had any effect on them. Helen is asking about you. You should go talk to her.'

Sonic opened his mouth to ask a question (something along the lines of: why did Helen need him around when she had Chris and Grandpa and Tails and Cream and Ella and absolutely everybody else?) then thought better of it and bit his tongue. Maybe he already knew the answer. Maybe that was why he felt so uneasy about this conversation.

There was another pause before Amy continued and, to Sonic's relief, she had changed the subject. 'So you really think you saw him out there, huh? Shadow.'

'Yeah. Either him, or there's something else in this world who moves like him.' Sonic blinked at the sky. 'An' like me, too. I can't think of anyone.'

'Hmm.' Amy clambered onto the rooftop besides him. 'I guess we should've known he'd show up. He _always_ comes back. I bet he's looking for the Emeralds.'

'If he is, then he's not gonna find 'em,' Sonic muttered. He held up a hand –the sole, blue Chaos Emerald clutched tightly in his fist. 'And I kinda wanna hang onto this one.'

Amy caught her breath. 'You brought it with you? Sonic, are you sure that's a good idea?'

'What d'you mean?' Sonic frowned, turning the Emerald over and over in his hand. 'You trust me, right, Amy?'

'Of _course_ I do!' Amy jumped off the roof wearing that irritated expression which usually meant he needed to go someplace else really fast. On this occasion, though, he figured it was probably a better idea to stay put. 'What I don't trust? Are those _Walls_ and the things that are coming _out_ of them... And it's already taken _six_ of the Chaos Emeralds.'

'So, lots of people have done that before. An' we always get 'em back.'

Amy stayed silent, looking as if she was thinking very hard about what he said. 'Sonic... Are you _really_ sure that you saw Shadow here?'

Sonic thought about this for a second (which translated to nearly forever, in his terms) and then shrugged. 'I don't know. It sure looked like him. Moved like him, too.'

Amy nodded, as if she'd expected him to say that. 'I thought so. People are whispering about it down there, you know. They keep saying that they saw someone a little like you running around. But then, people are talking about a lot of things right now,' she sighed. 'It's kinda depressing. Everyone's being so... So...'

'So what?'

Amy shuffled. '_Sad_. And scared, too, I suppose.'

Sonic gave her a surprised glance. 'You can tell that just by listening to 'em?'

'Sure I can,' Amy said. 'I mean it's obvious, isn't it? Their whole _world_ is coming apart right now. Nobody knows what to do or how to fix the problem. But when they see you, it makes them feel less scared, Sonic, because they still remember the way you always protected them before. They need something to be hopeful about. Just like you do with _me_. You should go down there, Sonic.'

Sonic shuffled uncomfortably, trying to figure out when Amy had gotten to be so perceptive about humans (who were naturally pretty difficult creatures to figure out). Amy, for her part, kept her eyes fixed firmly on the sky for a while, before turning to catch his eye and smiling softly with an expression that was so impossible to read that Sonic couldn't help frowning. '...Hey, where'd all this come from, anyway? Since when did you know so much about humans?'

'Humph,' Amy folded her arms and turned her nose to the sky. Ah – _there_ was the Amy he knew. 'Maybe I know a lot of things that you didn't realise, Sonic. Which probably wouldn't be such a problem if you didn't keep running away from people all the time. Honestly, even _Shadow_ seems to have made more of a public appearance than you have today.'

'Okay, okay. Sheesh, Amy, I get it. I'll go talk to some people.'

'Good,' Amy smiled at him broadly. 'Then you can start with Helen. I think she needs it right now.'

* * *

Grandpa was taking a phone call.

This was the second surprising thing about the Walls' unexpected disappearance: The group had arrived in town to find that the place was as crowded and chaotic as yesterday, and that telephone signals all over the city had started to get through again. It seemed like mobile ring tones were sounding constantly from almost everyone in the City Shelters, echoing all the way up to the seventh floor laboratory.

This wasn't helping the ringing in his ears. Tails grumbled to himself, trying to shake off the aching sensation. His head hurt, his teeth felt funny after his bone-jolting ride in the barely functioning _Tornado_, and the vibrations of the machinery all around him wasn't helping. He kept glimpsing uneasily at the long, circular machine that dominated the centre of the room. Grandpa called it a CAT Scanner, but it didn't look anything like the one that Tails had used with Cosmo on the _Blue Typhoon_. _This_ scanner looked more like something out of one of Doctor Eggman's factories. So imagine Tails surprise when Helen was helped _into_ the thing: hooked up to various wires and slid back into the wall on a plastic stretcher, like a doll being tucked away in a drawer. She had been in there for a few minutes now, with Chris chattering to her quietly, through the open end.

It was strange, really. Normally being surrounded by mechanics and technology comforted him. Made him feel like he was somewhere he belonged. But there was something different about _these_ machines, which throbbed and hummed and wrapped themselves around people. Maybe it was just that Tails didn't much want to think about the things peering right through Helen's bones and tissue. Searching painstakingly for something –they couldn't possibly know what; just _something_ that wasn't supposed to be there…

Tails shuddered. It was all a little too familiar for his liking.

Doctor Crowley looked as if she had a headache too. They had arrived here a while ago to find her standing by the locked laboratory door, as if she had been waiting for them. She had nodded at Grandpa; cast a few uneasy looks at everybody else and started going on about medical exams and DNA patterns and CAT scans, and a bunch of other stuff that even Tails didn't understand. Grandpa, however, had nodded seriously, as if he understood everything, and Chris had stood there biting his tongue and trying not to look as nervous as he clearly was.

Amy was right, really. Humans _were_ kinda strange.

'Hello? Oh, Ella. Looks like we were right about the phone signals, then... No, we only just got here and... Well, I'm afraid it doesn't look great... No, no, don't worry; I'll explain everything when we get back, just stay inside the house and... No, we might be a while. We're going to run the tests here and... Really? Oh, that's great news; I'll let him know that... Wait, excuse me? ...Chao? How many... Oh. Um... no. No I don't think I can explain that...'

Tails looked up blinking and wondering whether there was something wrong with his ears. He could've sworn that Grandpa just said something about Chao...

'No, Ella, I really don't know what over seventy Chao are doing in our back garden, maybe they just wanted to use the swimming pool.'

He _did_ say something about Chao.

Doctor Armstrong looked at Tails curiously as they listened to grandpa's conversation.

'Oh, um, they're creatures from our world,' Tails shrugged trying to sound casual about it. 'They're little blue things. Tiny. And they're totally harmless, Doctor, I promise.'

Doctor Armstrong didn't look particularly convinced. But then again, Tails thought, she _never_ looked especially convinced about anything they told her.

'Well, at least we have phone signals back,' Chris suggested. He seemed almost afraid to speak aloud, Tails noted. As if he was afraid of being overhead by someone. Probably quite a _specific_ someone who was currently hidden up to her feet inside of a gigantic diagnostic machine.

Grandpa lowered his voice and said. 'Yes, and apparently there's been an extremely irate movie actress calling the emergency service number for Station Square's GUN division, repeatedly, for the last six hours.'

In spite of the situation (and in spite of Helen's nearby presence) Chris smiled broadly and momentarily forgot to whisper. 'Really? She's alright? T-they're sure it's her?'

'As sure as they can be. Unless there happens to be some _other_ famous Filmdom City star with a taste for designer jewellery currently stuck in Dubai central airport with her computer tycoon husband, thirteen travel cases and a throng of photographers.'

Chris's smile broadened in a mixture of amusement and relief. 'Yeah, that sounds like mom all right.'

'That's good news, Chris.' Doctor Armstrong looked up from a panel she was examining. Oddly enough, she seemed genuinely pleased for him.

Chris momentarily forgot about being nervous and on edge around the Doctor and turned to face her, grinning. 'Yeah, it is. I just hope she doesn't drive the local authorities too crazy while they're there...' He trailed off abruptly, his eyes turning in the direction of the scanner. Helen remained completely still and silent, and Tails wondered whether or not she could hear anything in there. He felt an awful Flickie-bird sensation tugging at his insides again. They'd found Chris's parents at least, but what about Helen's?

Figuring that now would be as good a time as any to be conveniently distracted, Tails turned away from Chris and Helen and looked out of the window. A few seconds later. Doctor Armstrong joined him. Her expression was calm, and the anxiety and irritation she had expressed yesterday seemed to have faded. Or else she'd gotten better at hiding just how unnerved she was by this whole thing. They stayed there for a few moments, simply gazing out into the depths of the sharp, green sky.

'I believe I owe you an apology,' Doctor Armstrong said eventually.

'Oh... that's all right, really no apologies are necessary.'

Alisa bit her bottom lip. 'Nonetheless. I feel as if I owe you one.' There was a pause while Tails waited patiently for an explanation. Alisa tapped away at a few control panels. 'Perhaps where you come from, this kind of thing occurs all the time. It doesn't here. Except maybe for those few years the last time that our worlds crossed over. And since your arrival here coincided with the beginning of this phenomenon...' Alisa trailed off, shrugging. 'You can understand my suspicions.

Tails opened his mouth to say that: no, he didn't really understand her suspicions or why they meant she had to behave the way she did. But intuition came to his rescue at the last moment. He had not, he realised, really been _asked_ for his opinion.

* * *

Chris leaned forward and peering into the Diagnostic scanner where Helen was lying, her body cast in shadows and occasionally highlighted by glowing stripes of green and yellow, running over her like the lights inside a photocopier. He wasn't feeling too crazy about having to go into the thing himself after Helen was done. It looked really claustrophobic, and Chris still wasn't entirely sure exactly what the Doctor was looking _for_ anyway, but he did know that she kept glimpsing at whatever readouts she was getting with an anxious look on her face. It wasn't exactly comforting.

'Hey, Helen?'

'Still here,' Helen called back cheerfully. 'Not that there's anywhere I could've gone. Sounds like you've had some good news out there.'

'Uh. Yeah. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to get all worked up like that. I know we still haven't found your mom and dad...'

'Why shouldn't you be excited?' Helen asked. 'Your parents are safe, Chris. That sounds like something to be happy about to me. Didn't I say that she'd be alright?'

Chris shuffled a little uneasily. If there was one thing that having a theatrical actress for a mother had taught him then it was how to tell when other people were lying. The cheer in Helen's voice was about as genuine as Doctor Armstrong's concern. '...Yeah.'

'Then it's settled, Helen said brightly. 'Honestly, Chris, if I had a nickel for every time you apologised to me for one thing or another, I'd be able to buy your house.'

Chris wondered whether or not she was currently wearing a fake smile to match the fake optimism in her voice, but he couldn't tell for sure, what with her being stuck inside of that huge machine. Still, it was weirdly easier to talk to her when she _wasn't _looking right in his face_. _Chris reached a hand into the scanner and found Helen's fingers. She squeezed back reassuringly, and it dawned on Chris that this was the first time in months that they'd held hands like this. Unless you counted—

Wait...

Chris paused, blinking his eyes against the vague memory that was pushing itself suddenly to the forefront of his mind, whether he wanted it there or not. For a moment, he felt the same icy sensation that he had experienced while standing inside of the huge, white-grey space where the Wall had been. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, Chris remembered where he had felt that sensation before. He remembered being _inside_ of the Wall itself, pushing through a thick greyness, clinging to his body like molasses. Reaching out and finding Helen's hand... He remembered a voice.

'_**Finish what you started.'**_

'_...Knuckles?'_

'Ow... hey, Chris, watch it,' Helen's pained voice pulled him abruptly out of the memory, and Chris realised that he was clutching her fingers just a little too tightly for it to be comfortable. He let go abruptly, shaking away his confusion as he did so.

'Oh... sorry.'

'See? There you go again with the apologising,' Helen chuckled; reclaiming his removed hand with hers, as if to say that all was well.

It wasn't.

But maybe they could pretend for a little while longer.

* * *

Samuel Flair (though he usually cringed and turned away from anyone who called him that) was not the kind of man who tolerated waiting.

His plan for the next few hours was quite simple. He was going to keep doing his job and taking advantage of the fact that he could now once again reach speeds exceeding a hundred mph without worrying about smashing into a solid wall of energy at high speed. Whatever was going on right now, whatever was ripping huge chunks out of his city and disintegrating them, and whatever was transforming the skies into something out of some freaky Japanese movie, he wasn't going to just stand around idly and watch it happen.

Unfortunately for Sam, however, his talents were better served helping the stranded and homeless citizens of Station Square –not racing around in a formula one vehicle at five hundred miles per hour. No, today that was apparently Red's job. Or at least it _felt_ like she was rushing round at a hundred mph, dragging her mobile camera with her and trying to talk to as many people as possible. Sam was pretty sure that the reporter hadn't slept either. '_Now that's a girl with dedication..._'

The biggest problem he currently had to deal with was the oil spill. When the wall nearest the bus-shelter had disappeared, so had the half of the oil tanker that had been contained within it. As a result, there was now an oil slick spreading over the highway, tingeing the chalky emptiness that the disappearing wall had left behind and turning the ugly dull powder grey. The whole thing creeped Sam out something rotten, and he couldn't wait for them to figure out a way to fix this whole thing.

Still at least he had help here. Mostly from a bunch of the university students, many of whom had been here since last night. One of them –His name was Danny, right? Sam remembered meeting him as Chris's graduation– sighed as he dumped a box emblazoned with the Thorndyke Logo (since when did his Bro-In-Law's company make _blankets,_ anyway?) on top of the hood of Sam's car and wiped his brow. 'Sheesh. Is it just me, or is it creepier with those walls gone than t was when they were here?'

'Yeah, I keep hoping someone's gonna wake me up,' Sam muttered, unable to repress a shiver as he started up at the green sky. He almost wished the walls would come back. At least then he wouldn't have to look at the cold, white nothingness left behind where stretches of the city had been only hours earlier.

Sam grit his teeth and tried not to think about his sister maybe being stuck inside one of those things. He couldn't even begin to imagine what had happened to everyone and everything that had been under the wall's field of influence...

'It's like that High School Exorcism Movie revisited in real time, or something,' a girl (What was her name? Frankie or Francesca or something?) 'You know; the one with the ghosts?'

'Yeah, I guess. Was never crazy about horror flicks myself. I was always more of an action guy.'

'Has _everyone_ in this world seen that movie?' a grumpy voice muttered, seemingly from nowhere. Sam blinked, looking around until he spotted the voice's owner, sitting atop a nearby bus stop. To be honest, Sam didn't think he'd ever totally get used to the way the people from the other world could just do that – perch themselves in illogical or impossible places as comfortably asd if they were sitting on bean bags.

'Oh... Knuckles, hey. How's the weather up there?'

Knuckles didn't answer for a long moment, and when he did open his mouth, he was talking about something totally different to the weather: 'They're moving.'

'Say what?' Sam blinked, not understanding.

'The shards of the Master Emeralds,' Knuckles said, still keeping his gaze fixed firmly on the sky. 'They're moving. Slowly, so it's hard to see from down here but trust me. They're moving.'

'Uh… I wasn't really keeping track of them,' Sam muttered. 'I'm just trying to deal with them as they come, man. What are you doing up there anyway, asides from watching emerald pieces move?'

'I've been _asked_ to work this whole thing out,' Knuckles muttered. Apparently I'm the only one who can, since I'm the only person the Master Emerald ever listened to. But it's not listening to me now, so I need to trust in my other instincts.

'Who told you that?' Danny asked.

'Chris. Though not in so many words.' Knuckles folded his arms, scowling up at the sky. 'Kid thinks he can tell me how to do my job...'

Sam saw Francis and Danny exchanging a quick look,

'Hey we don't expect miracles from you, Knuckles,' Francis said gently. 'Chris is just worried. About Helen, mostly. And about all of the other people who were inside of... those things,' she glimpsed slightly over her shoulder, as if unwilling to turn and look into the Wall-Space directly. Sam didn't blame her. Knuckles grunted impatiently.

'Yeah, well, whatever the case kid's got a point,' he muttered, grimly. 'You humans can't possibly understand, but we're dealing with some serious forces of Chaos here.'

'Forces of Chaos?' Francis repeatedly, immediately reinforcing Knuckles statement that they didn't get it.

'Hm. Forces of Chaos are powers with the ability to manipulate energy and matter on a fundamental level, Francis,' Knuckles explained.

'You mean like the stuff Sonic can do when he goes super?' Danny asked.

'Something like that. Whatever did this to the Master Emerald, _and_ to your world, is capable of ripping energy out of the fabric of the universe and making it disappear.'

'Wait, making energy _disappear_?' Sam frowned. 'I… wasn't exactly clued up in physics class, Knuckles, but isn't that impossible? Energy can't just _disappear_. It can change into other stuff, or move to other places, but it can't just vanish completely. It's gotta go _somewhere_.'

'Exactly,' Knuckles said. 'Only a force of Chaos itself could do something like that. Haven't you been inside one of those surfaces? Don't you know how it feels standing within them?'

'Uh... no. We've kinda been trying to avoid the stuff,' Sam muttered.

'Good plan. Chris tried it earlier and his body nearly shut down on him. Kid didn't even notice until he stepped outside of it again. That's what messing around with Chaos can do to a person,' Knuckles said, coldly. 'Especially a person who doesn't have Chaos Control to begin with. Only specific people can control Forces of Chaos unharmed. Chris is _not_ one of those people… Boy should be more darned careful.'

'Hey, he's a Thorndyke,' Sam shrugged, '_and_ a Flair. _Safety_ isn't really something we think a lot about, these days.'

'That much is perfectly clear.' Knuckles muttered. Sam looked at him for a moment, wondering when this conversation had degenerated into a discussion about his nephew's sense of personal safety. 'So? he asked, his impatience getting the better of him and forcing him to change the subject. 'Have you worked any of this out or what?'

'Not a damn bit of it.' Knuckles grunted. 'Maybe—'

Knuckles' sentence was interrupted by a sudden rumbling sensation rattling through the bus stop atop which he sat. The echidna wobbled, leapt down from the rooftop and promptly rebalanced himself on solid ground. His expression turned cold and stony. A second later, Sam realised that it wasn't just the bus stop trembling, but the entire shelter.

Sam grit his teeth and groaned. 'Oh. _Perfect_. Now we've got an earthquake to deal with, that's all we need.'

'Uh... Sam?'

Francis's tone of voice (one which Sam normally considered as being reserved for car accidents and ruptured fuel tankers) made him turn and take notice of her almost instantly. He turned, following the line of her disturbed gaze to the black-slicked surface of the road. The spilled oil was bubbling like liquid in a cauldron. Black orbs growing and bursting as they spread across the tarmac. Then the oil reached out towards them, growing tendril-like arms that reached across the pavement, cracking the stone, hissing and sputtering where they touched the white Wall-Space.

When Sam replayed these events back in his mind later on that day, he would edit out his gasp of alarm. 'What the...'

There was a rumbling and a series of loud, disturbing sounds overlapping: A squealing that resembled a struggling creature drowning in quicksand, blended with the sound of metal tearing as the tanker behind them rattled and shuddered in a way that set his teeth on edge. Oil spread rapidly across the cab, as the ground, the tanker, and the surrounding pavement erupted in an explosion of black liquid and oily jaws.

* * *


	23. Twenty Two: Projections of Evil

**You'll have to forgive the massive delays between chapters. This one had been several months in the making due to the fact I'm in my final year of university doing an Animation course. It's a lot of work and has significantly reduced my fic-making time. But here we are. A new chapter, albeit not one where very much happens.**

* * *

Twenty Two: Projections of Evil.

_Once upon a time there was a monster that could make whatever it desired out of anything it touched. Anything. From bones to bacteria, from stone to metal. Dust, plants, steel, roots... no substance was beyond its control. Whatever it was given it could shape and reshape into whatever it wished. _

_It had not always been a Monster. It came into existence in much the same way as you or I –as something quite small and defenceless, albeit extraordinary. It was born of magic, into a cradle it crafted for itself from the bones of creatures long dead. It lived its early years in a figment playground that constantly changed to suit its whims and desires. As the creature grew older, it became bored and lonely. It crafted a castle for itself, and guards, and companions out of wood, sand and soil. _

_Its favourite material of all, however, was metal. Though it saw no worth in gold or silver the way most mortal men do. It made itself a new body out of steel and platinum when it thought its flesh was becoming weak with age. _

_This astonishing gift made the being worthy of the God of Chaos' attention, and so Chaos observed, amused and entertained by the being's displays of strength and creativity. This creature, Chaos decided, possessed a gift that was beyond any other. The being was worshiped, idolised and feared by all who encountered it. It came to think itself a God._

_But falling under the gaze of Chaos itself could make anyone conceited. And pride, as they say, always comes before a fall... _

* * *

The crow soared.

Or at least, in his own mind he was soaring. In truth, he had not flown properly for a long time. Such a long time in fact, that he had almost forgotten how flying _worked._ Anyway, his new wings, which had been crafted for him out of metal and skin by his master, were too heavy to lift him properly. Instead, the crow bumbled and flapped wildly between the tallest buildings, regularly stumbling and crashing into pylons as he travelled across the city. No matter, the bird thought to himself. This was good enough. And in comparison to all of the silly, gravity bound, fleshy creatures down there, he was indeed soaring.

Soaring was good. Caulk enjoyed flight; enjoyed the feel of cold wind rippling across his tarry feathers. Enjoyed the thick, heavy smells of this bright-strange human city. Enjoyed the sharp, cold sensation of the Emerald sky. Caulk had not realised how much he missed such open skies. He had forgotten how long he had been trapped within the dark, dark nothingness with his Master. Had forgotten how long he had existed without wings to swoop and claws to touch. Just thinking about that awful nothing-nothingness made Caulk's slimy feathers tingle with bad feelings.

It had been a terrible thing that his Master's enemies had done to them when they imprisoned Caulk and his Master so long ago. Caulk hated them for it. He felt that hatred bubbling and seething in his gut like a freshly digested worm. The feeling comforted him almost as much as the open air did. The feeling reminded Caulk of his flesh and bones and strong, new body –his Master's gift to him.

Master had been true to all his promises. Caulk was free. Master was free. _All_ their allies would be free again soon. The fleshy creatures would pay for their actions.

Caulk scrambled to the highest point of a tall building and looked down into the city. There in the streets, it saw a point of blackness, growing bigger and bigger where the fleshy creatures had gathered. At first Caulk was so afraid that he nearly fell off his perch: he feared that the black shape was the Nothingness, come to reclaim its prisoners. But then he realised that the blackness growing below him was not from the nothingness at all. It was a thick, black body, growing faster and faster, terrifying the humans gathered all around it.

It was one of his Master's servants. Caulk watched curiously, wondering what its Master could have made such a creature out of, and wondering which of the lost souls from the nothingness had been lucky enough to be given this new body. The creature grew, and Caulk marvelled at its growth, feeling the stone of the building trembling beneath his claws. The creature lifted its black bulk and screamed.

Raising his beak to the green-grey sky, Caulk screeched enthusiastically in response.

* * *

Alisa Armstrong was trying very hard to be rational about all this.

It wasn't easy. Alisa would be the first person to admit that adapting to new situations was not her strong point. Personally she blamed growing up in a place like Sol Alasmo, where the strangest thing that ever happened was the grocery van showing up on a different day of the week, or a cow escaping from a paddock. Alisa had spent her childhood longing for freedom and excitement. Then she had grown up to discover that things out here in the big wide world were just a bit _too_ exciting.

In fact, if she were being completely honest, Alisa would say that these creatures from another world... _scared_ her.

Which was silly, she knew. Alisa wasn't afraid of animals. She'd grown up around bulls and dingoes and all manner of spiders and insects in the Sol Alasmo deserts. And anyway, Tails was about as inoffensive looking a creature as it was possible to be, without someone scenting him with strawberries and tying a pink ribbon around his neck. Cream was about as threatening has her namesake, Amy Rose... well, with a name like _Amy Rose_, she couldn't possibly be _that_ bad, could she? And even Knuckles, in spite of his temper, seemed more grumpy than dangerous.

And Sonic... Alisa wasn't entirely sure what it was about that innocuous blue hedgehog that bothered her so much. She supposed she just didn't like the idea of someone being able to cross half a city (and even rob a bank or something) in the time it took her to tie her shoelaces.

That, and they _looked_ weird. Really, _really_ weird. Alisa hadn't thought it possible for any creature to look that way and still be functioning normally. _And_ there was the fact that their arrival in this world had coincided with a massive geographical and physical upheaval that was apparently destroying Station Square.

...And what on earth was going on _now_?

'Would anyone... care to tell me what the... hell is happening?' Alisa gasped as they ran down the stairs of the building. Nobody answered, but Alisa was getting used to that. Tails had noticed something out of the window while helping Helen out of the machine. He had yelled for Professor Thorndyke, who had also looked out of the window. Then everyone had bolted for the door en masse, and were now racing down to ground level (or in Helen's case, taking the elevator), with Alisa (who had _not_ looked out of the window, for fear of what she might see) trailing along behind. Professor Thorndyke was the farthest ahead proving himself to be remarkably agile for a man who was pushing sixty. Every now and then Tails would stop and glimpse over his shoulder up the stairs, as if to check Alisa was still there. Then he went right on running.

Alisa finally burst through the door at the bottom of the staircase into a wall of ear-splitting noise. Like everyone else she covered her ears immediately, but that did little to stop the wall of noise assaulting her senses. It was like how a whale might sound if a whale could scream, she thought. Like a thousand lost souls crying out at once. She caught a glimpse of Chris Thorndyke sinking to his knees clutching his ears, but was too busy trying to keep her own ears protected to help.

A few seconds later the noise –and subsequent pain– began to face away to a more bearable level. Alisa slowly uncovered her ears, her eyes blurred with tears of pain and the feeling that half the energy in her body had been sucked right out of her.

'H-holy mother of...' Professor Thorndyke gasped, helping his shell shocked grandson to his feet. 'Chris? You alright?'

Chris looked up seeming a lot whiter in the face than he had been a few moments ago. 'No. No none of us are alright. That... that noise.'

'I know,' Tails whispered understandingly as he too clambered back to his feet, 'I- I recognised it too... sort of.'

'_Recognised_ it?' Alisa blurted out. 'What the hell are you talking about, Tails? You've heard this sound before?

'Yes.' Tails said uneasily, then blinked and shook his head. 'Well, I-I mean no, I mean... Well... it's not the _sounds_ that we recognize, Doctor. It's the _feelings_.'

'The feelings?' Alisa was unable to keep a note of scathing from her voice. 'And what, pray tell, does it feel like?' _Asides from a splitting headache, that is. _

'Metarex.' A grim voice answered. Alisa turned to look at the blue hedgehog now standing besides her and gazing at something overhead.

Alisa hadn't yet seen the wall-born creatures Sonic had fought yesterday. Not up close, at least. She had caught only distant shadows of the battle that couldn't be seen from the campus. So the huge, black creature rearing up from a nearby shelter, like a living tide of liquid with a thin neck, tar smeared jaws and far too many limbs (tentacles?) for comfort, came as quite a shock to her. For a moment, she simply stood there in astonished fear, hands clutched to her ears.

'B-but it _can't_ be a Metarex,' Amy Rose (who must've arrived with Sonic). 'Can it?'

'I don't know... it bears a resemblance, at least,' Chris seemed to swallow. 'And I don't think it popped in to check out the local Real Estate.'

'It's heading for the City Centre,' Alisa muttered to no one in particular. It seemed that she was right, though. The Creature was definitely heading south-east, via whatever strange form of locomotion it possessed, towards the middle of the city...

Where nearly ten thousand people were gathered in the emergency shelters. Alisa felt her blood run cold.

Professor Thorndyke scowled. 'We should start getting people to safety. _Now_.'

No sooner had he said so Sonic vanished, leaving behind a trail of blue light, headed in the direction of the creature.

* * *

Sonic raced through the city streets in the direction of the monster. The people he passed weren't smiling now (though he was probably moving too fast for them to see.) They were too busy running in the opposite direction. The monster seemed like a huge shadow, spreading across the city. Every now and then it let out another of those ear-piercing cries, but they didn't bother Sonic now that he was on the move –he was moving faster than the speed of sound, after all.

Sonic grinned in spite of himself, clutching the blue chaos emerald tightly in one hand as he ran. Now _this_ was more like it.

He stopped for a second as he reached the place where the monster had first appeared. Any semblance of order the Speed Team had been trying to establish in the Emergency Shelter had gone up in smoke when the creature appeared. Sonic found the team members trying to herd people in one direction as quickly as possible. He raced over to them like a blue bullet, giving Francis the shock of her life as he appeared besides them.

'Hey, guys! What's with tall, dark and goopy?'

Sonic hadn't even realised Knuckles was there until he felt a familiar clout on the back of his head and turned to see the echidna. 'Well, Sonic, find mess you'd gotten us into this time, isn't it?' Knuckles snapped. 'Literally, too.'

'Aw, c'mon, Knuckles,' Sonic rubbed his head. 'How is all this _my_ fault?'

'I don't know, but it usually turns out to be,' Knuckles muttered. 'Asides from the fact that you probably have something to do with it, though, I've got no clue what that thing is or what it's doing here. According to Sam it grew out of an oil slick.'

'Oil slick?' Sonic looked at the pavement, which was coated with black goop and tinted with rainbow patterns.

'Yeah and this is gonna be a total pain to clear up,' Sam muttered.

'If there's anything left to clear up by the end of this! W-what the heck is it doing?' Francis stammered as she tried to shepherd a bunch of nervous teenagers in the direction of the crowd. 'Trying to gunk everybody to death?!'

'Yeah I mean... sure, it's ugly, but what's it supposed to accomplish?' Danny asked, wrinkling his nose at the sky.

Sonic shook his head. 'Kid's got a point, Knuckles. It's just a big, living puddle, right?'

'Seems pretty vicious for a puddle, if you ask me,' Knuckles said. A few seconds later, his suspicions were shown to be justified. The creature slammed into a nearby office building, shattering glass windows and concrete. Everyone paused to cover their ears as another painful screech cut across the city, setting Sonic's teeth on edge. Every screen from those horrible jaws felt like somebody was trying to make his insides into his outsides.

'Oh boy,' Francis muttered in an uneasily squeak, all of them watching in horror as the building crumbled.

'But... what the... It's made outta _oil_!' Danny exclaimed in disbelief. 'How'd it even do that?!'

'Beats me,' Sonic shrugged. 'I just wanna get rid of it before we have to find out. Sam, you gonna cover me?'

'Love to, buddy,' Sam looked disgruntled. 'But do you expect the Speed-Machine to run on the roads _that_ thing is leaving behind? Even our cars can't function on half a foot of tar.'

'Man, some help you are,' Sonic said, grinning to himself and preparing to run again. 'Still if you want something done right—'

Knuckles blinked, raising his hands in warning. 'Hey! Watch out, Sonic, the road is—'

Whatever Knuckles had been about to say was drowned out by the slippery sensation of tar giving way under Sonic's feet. He fell backwards with a loud "Thud!" before he could regain his footing. 'Yargh!'

'—Slippery.' Knuckles finished. 'Yeah, you'd better watch that.'

'Pah!' Sonic got to his feet, spitting out a bit of oil that had somehow managed to get into his mouth as he fell. Just great. 'Yeah thanks for the advice. Look, you guys just keep getting these people outta here. I'll deal with slimy.'

And then he raced off between the buildings before anyone (probably Knuckles) could ask exactly _how_ he planned to do that. Truth be told, Sonic didn't have the faintest idea yet. But then he never did. That was half of the fun.

* * *

Shadow's first plan after he saw the creature manifesting was to tackle it head on.

This probably wasn't the most sensible of approaches, but he didn't see how else he was going to get any idea about how powerful this monster was without attacking it. Its cries alone could send shudders down his spine.

_Not a Metarex_, something buried deep in Shadow's mind told him. But there was definitely something about this creature that reminded him far too much of those flesh hating killers. He imagined it was something to do with the way their _screams_ felt. When the energy waves of the monster's knife-like cry passed over his body, Shadow was reminded of being out in space, having the energy sucked slowly out of his body to feed the giant, destructive seed growing in the core of the galaxy...

Drawing a breath, Shadow summoned the power to teleport into the air, hovering directly at the creature's eye level. This was difficult without any Chaos Emeralds, but Chaos Control was more than just a power source to Shadow –it was an innate part of his bodily structure. He always had at least _some_ chaos power circulating in his blood stream, Emeralds or no Emeralds.

The creature seemed immediately aware of his presence. It paused in its aggressive assault upon some kind of factory building (where it was delighting in flooding the factory's many chambers with its own body) and for a moment, the two creatures regarded each other.

'_**You. Chaos Creature. We know who **_**you**_** are**_.'

Shadow tried not to shudder as he felt –not heard, _felt_– the creature's voice passing through his body like a cold wind. 'You don't belong here!' he said, loudly. ('_Here's hoping it understands English_.')

'_**Don't belong! Nor do you, Chaos Creature. But we are here! We are wherever we wish to be!' **_

Shadow felt a deep, familiar stirring in the pit of his stomach as he stared into dark endlessness where the creature's eyes should have been. 'You're destroying this city. I can't allow that.' _Maria wouldn't have wanted it. _

_**Destroy? No!'**_ The creature seemed almost insulted. In spite of the wreckage and rubble of oily buildings scattered all around it. Out of the corner of his eye Shadow could see panicking humans scattered like ants throughout the streets._** 'Make more! Make more trash to become treasure! Wreckage for our master, to form our brother's bodies.' **_

Shadow started, shifting himself backwards through the air for several feet (a strategic retreat, he told himself. He was _not _running away from this creature.)'What do you mean? Who _is_ your master?'

'_**Chaos Creature does not know? Master is all important. Master will make this land a strong one.' **_

'Who _is_ he?' Shadow yelled, pushing the chaos energy in his body to the surface. He felt its power crackling throughout his fur and on the tip of his tongue. He tried to force the energy to build up all around him, to make himself more imposing, like a cat's fur standing on end. This creature clearly valued power. Maybe a display of strength would encourage it to reveal more. 'Chaos?!'

'_**No, no! Is greater! But Chaos lies within and without him! **_The creature seemed to laugh, twisting its dripping jaws into something that resembled a grin._** Chaos lies in **_**all**_** things that are not human, but more in others! It lies in this one's heart and soul! It is Black Chaos, is it not, Chaos Creature? It is darkness within you. You are more of a brother to us than that other Chaos Creature was.' **_

'I've no idea what you're talking about,' Shadow muttered. Was it his imagination, or could he feel a dull tugging sensation, from the shards of Master Emerald far over his head? Their poisoned auras filled the air around him, tasting like black pepper...

'_**No! No foolishness. You... this Chaos Creature is like our other brother! The one who killed! This one wishes to kill also? Like the one who destroyed our ally. Brothers should not destroy each other, Chaos Creature. Do you not know this?' **_

'I don't _have_ any brothers,' Shadow said, honestly no longer caring what the creature was babbling about. So it wouldn't explain things to him. Whatever. He'd been going to destroy it anyway. Shadow raised his left hand, materialised a shard of solid, golden energy in his palm, and flung it into the creature's tarry face. '_Chaos Sphere!'_

...Which had about as much an impact as matter would have on the vacuum of earth-space. Shadow watched, alarmed, as the bolts of energy were absorbed into the creature's oily body and disappeared. They didn't seem to do even the slightest bit of damage.

_**Pointless. Chaos Creature is as foolish as his other brother was. **_

Shadow cursed and vanished before one of the creature's tentacles could deal him a destructive blow. He felt the suction of darkness tearing at his fur as the creature passed so close to him, and decided he really didn't want to know what coming into contact with it would feel like. It lurched like a living wave, determined to swallow him whole, shaping and reshaping its body at will, expanding and contracting in random, foul patterns. A second lunge nearly send him flying into a solid wall behind him and it was only sheer effort that kept him in the air. The creature had dashed him away as easily as you would thwack away an annoying insect. As if the Ultimate Life form were nothing more than an annoyance.

Shadow felt his blood boiling. Reappearing several feet to the left, he caught a glimpse of the city below and realised that what he had thought was a factory was not a factory at all, but a power station.

All of a sudden, what the creature was planning became obvious. A second shift away from a thick, black tentacle lunging in his direction caused Shadow to turn upside down in the air and notice the blue streak of light charging through the streets below him.

'_Sonic.'_

* * *

Shadow reappeared at ground level, directly over Sonic's head as the blue hedgehog raced through the wrecked streets (going only slightly slower than usual in his attempt to avoid slipping on the oily pavement. Catching up to the creature had revealed to Sonic just how far the oily-roads problem extended. The creature had left a trail of thick tar over everything in its path, which Sonic soon discovered wasn't any good for running on.) 'Sonic!'

The blue blur glimpsed upwards, smiling that ridiculously inappropriate smile, still dodging around the slippery lumps of concrete littered in the monster's wake . 'Hey, Shadow, nice to see ya. I think.'

'Can the sarcasm,' Shadow snapped. 'You better not be planning on running headlong into that thing!'

'Eh, I figured that was as good a plan as any.' Sonic yelled as he raced through the streets with Shadow close besides him.

'_Good_? It's a pathetic plan!'

'Well I don't see _you_ coming up with anything better. Or was that someone else I saw up there just now?' Sonic tried to race ahead, but couldn't get the momentum. Since Shadow's boots kept him above ground level, he had no such problem.

Shadow grit his teeth, reminded himself that in spite of his obviously limited understanding, Sonic _was_ the only other person here who stood half a chance of stopping that creature before someone got killed. 'Listen, faker, that creature just absorbed a whole blast of my natural energy with no effect. But Chaos Control might be enough to stop it. Give me the last Chaos Emerald.'

'Oh sure, I'm gonna do that,' Sonic muttered, dodging around tar patches and shards of discarded building. 'So you can hand it straight over to Eggman. Great idea, Shads.'

'Idiot! Eggman isn't even in this world right now and he's nothing to do with me any—' Shadow started to argue, and then stopped, asking himself why he was even bothering to explain anything? The waves of sound from the creature's screeches passed over them both in ripples. In the void of super-speed, Sonic and Shadow could hear only each other.

Not that the faker was actually _listening_.

'Look, Shadow, I know that it's traditional for us to duke it out every time we see each other, but I don't think this is a great time. That thing's heading for the middle of the city, there's about half a million people there right now.'

'Which is exactly why you should give the chaos emerald to someone who has a better idea of what they're doing with it!'

A flicker of uncertainty passed across Sonic's face. He held the Chaos Emerald out in front of his face, displaying that rare ability of his to think and run at the speed of sound at the same time. 'Well you know what they say, Shads. Two heads are better than one.'

The ground beneath them rocked violently in what Shadow could only guess was the quake caused by a collapsing power station wall. They stopped sharply as the station suddenly appeared, looming over them with its walls coated in black tar, trembling and cracking under the strain of the creature above. There was another scream, passing over and around and through their bodies like a storm of lightning and pain. When the echo lifted, the ringing in their ears remained, and it took Shadow several seconds to realise he was on his knees

'Whoa... Y'okay?' Sonic's voice slurred, and it took Shadow several seconds to answer in the affirmative, without being entirely sure that this was true. Looked like the closer you got to this thing, the harder it became to handle it's shock waves.

'The Station,' he muttered haosrely. 'It must be heading for... the generator.'

'The generator?' Sonic shook his head sharply as if trying to knock the confusion out of him. 'What does it want _that_ for?'

'I'm not sure. Most likely it feeds on energy,' Shadow muttered. 'If it gets to it...'

Sonic seemed to visibly swallow, but repressed t quickly enough that nobody but Shadow could've possibly noticed. 'Well if you've got any ideas how we're gonna take this on with just _one_ Chaos Emerald, I'd love to hear 'em.'

'Just one.' Shadow muttered. Sonic looked at him, and for a moment, the two hedgehogs seemed to exchange a reluctant agreement, both of them knowing what needed to be done. Sonic held out the blue Chaos Emerald.

Together, then.

* * *

He was twelve years old.

No. Not twelve. _Eighteen_. Nearly nineteen, in fact. And he was standing in the darkness of an enemy's chamber with a small hand clutched tightly in his; the skin soft as petals, except that petals didn't sweat with fear or cling to you as if their lives depended on it.

Chris doesn't know why he's remembering this right _now_. Maybe it's the sense of helplessness which is bringing it all back to him. He remembers the feeling of that moment –the absolute terror pressing down on every bone in his body. And yet he hadn't panicked. He'd kept smiling, because Cosmo needed so badly for him to hold together. Right up until Black Narcissus had caught up with them. Right up until the sharp snap of a blade and the shimmer of his own blood, drifting in front of his face.

Right now, still trying to gather his thought in the aftermath of that painful scream, Chris felt just as helpless as he did in that moment. And also just like in that moment, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that things here were _not_ going to go to plan. The aching sensation from earlier had returned, numbing the entirety of his chest like the memory of a bad dream. Like the feeling of a built-in blade slashing across his heart...

'Chris?'

Chris blinked, and when he opened his eyes he sees Helen looking at him, an expression of panic in her eyes. She was gripping his hands in both wrists, and it dawned on him that he had probably almost passed out again and she was trying to hold him upright. 'Chris we have to go right now!'

'Yeah as creepy as this all is, Chris, this is _not_ the time for passing out!' Amy snapped. _Practical as ever_, Chris felt the thought penetrating through the fog coating his brain.

'W-wait,' he gripped Helen's wrist back quickly desperate to get his point across, but not entirely sure how to. 'Helen something's wrong.'

'Of course something's wrong, Chris, there's a monster charging through downtown Station Square,' his grandfather muttered, not unkindly, but certainly with a touch of impatience.

'No, it's not that. It's... something else.' Chris winces, trying desperately to understand whatever the aching sensation in his chest was telling him. It meant _something_, he was sure of it, just as he had been sure in the blackness of the dream, and when Knuckles' voice was calling to him through the gloom of the Surface.

...Which made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Chris wasn't an instinctive person – this he knew. He listened to facts and figures and logic. He understood technology and function – not instinct and intuition., so why now, was he so desperate to listen to whatever this sensation was trying to tell him.

_Maybe because with Sonic, technology and knowledge don't count for very much_, he thought.

Chris turned and stared at the sky until his eyes stung, and then his confusion turned abruptly to alarm, as he realised what was changing. There were now thin trains of green light spreading slowly downwards from the sky, like lacy spiders webs.

'The Walls...' he whispered, and Grandpa's eyes widened, as he too looked upwards, and realised the same thing Chris had already picked up on.

The Walls were returning to Station Square.


	24. Twenty Three: Dispersing Chaos

**So then. I ought to apologise for the ridiculous delay in getting this chapter up, but I suppose that it's better late than never, ne? **

**The story is definitely winding down to the last few chapters now. There's really not much further left to go. And if you're thinking "how can that be when you've set up more questions than can possibly be abnswered in a few chapters?!" then I answer: that is what running series are for. ;)**

**So then. On we go. **

* * *

Twenty Three. 

_Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl who was amongst the last of her kind. She was intelligent as well as fine, and many of her clansmen would have wanted her as their bride had she perhaps been... Well... a little less peculiar. _

_Not an ordinary girl; not by their standards. As the chief's daughter, she was often subject to favouritism and yet she was never proud or selfish. She was drawn to forces beyond her control, to beings with whom she should not possibly find kinship. The one who finally chose her was the last one you could ever have anticipated. The one who chose her as his bride was Chaos itself. _

_She died long before this story began, and her soul was encased in that which she most wanted to protect. _

_This is not her story, though her existence has always imprinted upon it. That which drew her to chaos was a force as old as time itself. _

_Once upon a time, there was another smart and pretty young girl who had no life ahead of her to look forwards to, and a creature who made that short life part of his own. She died young. _

_It was said that the creature was deeply saddened by her premature demise. That too, is another story, but she is also important in ways which she could never have known. _

_One way or another, both of these girls were connected to chaos, and that connection extended through the eras into the present day. Into the current battle being waged with the fate of the world at stake. _

* * *

One of the worst things about fighting living liquid was the fact that if it wanted a new arm to throw at you, all it had to do was _grow_ one. Dodging the creature was becoming a lot more difficult the more arms that grew from its dark flank, the few chaos spears that Shadow had been able to throw at it every time it was his turn with the Emerald barely even seemed to tickle, and Sonic was regularly missing being sent flying against a wall by what he would call sheer skill, but was probably more like dumb luck.

The idea was that with both of them using the Chaos Emerald and regularly swapping it between them then the Emerald would be better able to cope with the power flow they needed. It also meant that the creature could never be sure which way to look or which of them _had_ the Emerald at any one time. They switched the Emerald back and forth at a speed which would've sent one of Eggman's 'Bots reeling. The monster, however, seemed a lot more resilient (not to mention it had a lot more arms to hit them with).

That was the problem with plans, Sonic thought grimly: they only worked until you started running.

And the longer this battle seemed to take, the bigger the creature became, sucking on the energy burning in the power station below. Sonic watched as the lights along the entire street flickered and died and energy trailed in rivulets through the creature's body.

'Hey, Shadow! Head's up, it's my turn with the emerald!'

'Both our turns.' Shadow reached out grabbing Sonic's arm in mid air and thrusting the Blue Chaos emerald into his hand. 'We need to access Chaos Control!'

'Wha— Haven't we've been through this already?!' Sonic hadn't meant to sound uneasy (worrying about what was possible and what _wasn't_ possible at any given time was usually Tails' job), but it was already too late. The glow of the Blue Emerald was barely enough to keep both of them in the air and throwing a few chaos spears as it was. 'Just one Emerald doesn't have enough power, we can't—'

'I thought _you_ were the one who liked to run into things unchecked?!' Shadow snapped, pulling them away from another limb's assault. 'We won't know until we try. Chaos Control it _now_, while we have the chance!'

'But there's no way that'll take it down!'

'We're not aiming to take it _down_! Look there!' Shadow snapped, and it took Sonic a couple of seconds (an eternity for him) to work out exactly what Shadow meant. He looked up at the sky overhead, at the gradually shifting nature of the sky.

...That strange reality-shifting sensation happened again, the same one he had felt earlier when the Emeralds were stolen from him. The world around him seemed to be sucked deeper into green sky. A wind picked up and whistled about his ears where no wind had been before. It was with an explosion of shock that Sonic realised what was happening. _'Another wall—!'_

They were coming down everywhere, spreading rapidly across the city. But the one directly overhead was the most interesting. Something was different about the way the Wall looked here... The one over the creature was much darker, as if drawing on more power than the rest of the Walls were... and in another instant, Sonic realised why.

He could _feel _them... the other six Chaos Emeralds. Looking upwards showed him the six glistening points of colour surrounding a point of green –the same point of green from which the energy wall was now falling.

The same energy wall which this creature, for some reason, didn't seem to be at all afraid of. Why not? Those walls could suck the energy out of anything they touched, but this creature didn't seem to care about the one falling directly over its head.

Unless these creatures weren't affected by the walls...

Any thought Sonic could've given this idea was interrupted by the slam of a tentacle across his face. He fell a good few feet, face stinging, before colliding with Shadow who somehow succeeded in staying in the air. It took him only a second to get his breath back.

'Watch it, will you, faker? You're going to get us both killed here!'

'Gah— Oh, sure, like _you_ saw that coming. Wait... whatever's made these things... it's using the _Chaos Emeralds_ to make that freak stronger, isn't it?' Sonic yelled.

'Right. And at the moment most of the power is being directed _here_. Whatever is causing all of this wants to stop _us_ no matter what, Sonic. To stop its brothers...'

'Brothers?' Sonic scowled. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'How should I know?' Shadow snapped. 'But the Chaos Emeralds are close. The ones _you_ let it take.'

'Hey, let's not play the blame game—'

'Be serious!' Shadow snapped, glaring as the monster before them lashed out and sent a concrete factory wall crumbling, taking out an electricity pylon in the process. 'If we use the last Emerald now... we might be able to disrupt this Wall's power.'

It took Sonic only a couple of seconds to decide what to do. Then he nodded. 'Gotcha. _Chaos Control_ it is.'

They both raised a hand, and fired a single chaos spike directly into the green sky overhead.

* * *

It took them a few moments to work out exactly what was going on up there. All that Chris and the others could see from the streets was the distant looming shape of the Oil Creature, and the blue and black blurs that might as well have been insects against the monster's giant frame.

Blue. And Black.

'Is that who I think it is?' Chris muttered, annoyed to find that his voice was still coming out hoarse, as if he'd been chewing on sand.

'Unless you know someone else with the ability to keep up with Sonic then I expect so,' Grandpa muttered, moving faster than was honestly normal in someone his age as he reached into a bag Tails had brought from the X Tornado and pulled out a laptop. 'He must've come through a Breach like the rest of you did.'

'Figures. He always comes back eventually... Hey, where did you get that laptop, anyway?' Amy asked.

'When your youth and dexterity start to go it sharpens your other senses, Amy,' Grandpa grinned wryly. 'Such as the instinct that tells you to bring a laptop with you everywhere. Sit tight, we'll work this out.'

Amy went back to gazing at the sky. The evacuation had already taken place in this area so the streets were deserted except for their party, and overhead the walls continued to fall, like a slowly descending curtain of cold, green darkness. Like the world was ending, but there was nothing they could do except sit and watch it happening.

The feeling was irritatingly familiar.

'If they don't get this over with then they're going to be caught in one of those walls,' Amy muttered uneasily. 'And not that I wanna sound like a coward or anything, but shouldn't _we_ be moving too? We're right in the path of one of those things and I don't wanna end up like the library!'

'Actually we're outside of a surface zone by about twenty metres,' Grandpa said, tapping away at a speed previously known only to Sonic. 'Don't worry Amy; I know what I'm doing. Helen, call Ella tell her and Cream to get out of the building, we can't be sure they won't end up trapped in a Wall when it comes down.'

'What're you doing, grandpa?' Tails asked.

'Making use of the satellite link up while we still have it,' Grandpa said. 'As soon as those walls are back I expect we'll lose the signal again but I think now... Bingo' A bundle of information poured across the screen of the laptop, bright green text on a black background. It was moving at too high a speed for Chris to understand, but grandpa read it as easily as he did the cartoons in a Sunday newspaper.

He seemed to find it about as funny as he did the cartoons in the Sunday newspaper, too. Which is to say: not at all.

'Well, what's it say?' Tails asked.

'Hold on just a moment,' Grandpa muttered, tapping a few more codes and tactfully ignoring the face of Alisa, leaning over his shoulder. A few seconds later, he had the answer they were waiting for.

It wasn't good.

'Twenty six walls,' he muttered. 'That's three more than last time in this area alone. There are many more outside of the city, possibly spreading as far afield as Europe. The walls have moved appropriately two hundred degrees to the left. They'll be falling on completely untouched areas now.'

'It's like a Turing Machine.' Alisa said, much to everyone's shock seeing as they'd forgotten she was there. 'It's draining all the power from one area before moving onto the next.'

'And it might look random from here but there's a definite pattern to it,' Grandpa says. 'If we can predict that pattern...'

'Then we'll be able to work out where the next walls will come down!' Alisa grinned in semi-triumph. 'I think we're getting somewhere.'

'Yeah, sure, that's wonderful, but how does it help us _now_, guys?' Amy asked. 'How are we supposed to stop the walls that're already _coming down_?'

'That's the problem, we don't _know_.' Tails muttered. 'There's no way we can hold back a force of Chaos _this_ powerful, especially not when it's striking in about a hundred places at once. It's like trying to fight a thunderstorm.'

'Well then better break out the static proof clothing,' Alisa muttered, making what Chris assumed was a rare attempt at a joke. 'Because I don't think there's any other choice.'

Grandpa looked back at the battle waging on the other side of the city. The blue and black dots of Sonic and Shadow and one Chaos Emerald's power were flitting against a black mass filling the sky. 'If only determination were enough, Ms Armstrong... This monster is nothing but a distraction, created to keep us busy and disorganized while the walls come down again. Something _planned_ all this.'

'The question is, who?' A voice muttered. It took Chris a minute to work out that it was Knuckles –the echidna's voice, in fact everyone's voice, was pounding in his ears like the aftermath of the monster's scream. Francis and Danny were arriving with him, and in the distance, Chris could hear the familiar screech of a high speed engine that always precluded Uncle Sam's arrival.

Chris swallowed, trying to think of something that could be useful. But that was the problem with being surrounded by child geniuses, enthusiastic grandparents, magical guardians, and high speed hedgehogs: you were always going to feel a little like a spare wheel, no matter how many degrees you had.

Plus it was hard to concentrate when you had the migraine of the century.

That was when he realised Knuckles was looking right at him with that same expression that Chris had never seen before unti la few days ago, and was now seeing with an alarming regularity. He was just about to ask what the heck was so interesting when Helen gripped his arm. For just a second, Chris saw that expression she normally reserved for moments when people insulted her chair or brought up Chris's right to be in an eighteen-plus movie screening. The kind of righteous frustration that made even Grandpa stop and look twice. Helen didn't show that side of herself often, she had no need to, but when she did...

Well, woe betide whoever had refused them access to the movie screening.

'Whoever it is we'll find them, Knuckles,' Helen snapped. 'We can't let anyone else get killed because of these things. We can't let anyone else get caught!'

...Actually, Chris thought, it somewhat reminded him of Cosmo, in her final hours. Not that Helen and Cosmo had a great deal in common, but they did share that air of hope and determination. Of course, Cosmo's was always buried behind a wall of fear and confusion, but it would still find ways of bleeding to the surface, because in spite of how helpless she felt, there was still hope. There always was...

And this really _wasn't_ the time for waxing lyrical about a pretty girl, Chris told himself, turning away from Helen's gaze and looking back to the sky. 'I know, Helen, but... I don't see what else we can do. It's up to Sonic now.'

'Isn't it always?' Tails sighed. 'I wish we could be of more help here.'

'What I wanna know is how Shadow got here –and what he wants.' Francis muttered.

'Hey, don't knock it, Francis, from the looks of it he's on our side,' Danny added.

Chris didn't comment, he just kept his eyes on the battle. Sonic and Shadow were barely visible as they flickered against the sky, and the monster looked like a huge growth sprouting more and more tendrils with every second, desperate to knock the two hedgehogs out of the sky. There was a Wall falling almost directly over the monster's head, but it didn't seem to care.

And then the air before them seemed to turn white for one, long moment.

'W-what was that?' Amy gasped.

'They're using it,' grandpa muttered, in surprise. 'Sonic and Shadow are trying to instigate Chaos Control... with just _one_ emerald!'

'But what good is that? They can't beat that creature with just _one_!' Danny snapped. 'I thought they needed all seven of them to go Super?'

'Not if you're determined enough, apparently,' Grandpa muttered. Chris felt a shudder down his spine. It had reminded him far too much of the last explosion he had seen out in the depths of space, the Metarex's screams racing through his nervous system as Cosmo exploded in light.

And then the world –he couldn't think of any better way to describe it– shifted wildly out of focus, and everything in Chris's line of vision changed.

* * *

It was like being wrapped in a web of fire. The feeling of Chaos Energy burning all around him and awareness of nothing except Shadow's hand, gripping his arm tightly. He had no flesh or bones, no fur or air in his lungs –there was nothing except Chaos.

To anyone else this would've been the scariest thing imaginable, but to Sonic and Shadow it was old news.

It was like a tug of war –two forces pushing against each other until one of them had to give. Sonic couldn't even see the monster anymore, but he could see the other Emeralds glistening in the light, their colour glaring even through the existing brightness.

The only problem was that this wasn't normal Chaos Control they were using. In fact it wasn't really Chaos Control at all, just raw Chaos energy condensed between them and combined with their own life force to create a strong enough beam to be shot into a target. Sonic knew neither of them was powerful enough right now to have hit what they called "Super Mode". No. Normal Chaos Control (if you could ever call Chaos _normal_) involved drawing on the power of all _seven_ emeralds. The power Sonic and Shadow were using was diluted, but it was enough, when fired directly into the heart of the Wall overhead to disrupt the power source of the monster.

The tarry creature seemed to know what they were up to, but there was nothing it could do. The backlash of power from the two of them was kind of like being hit in the stomach with a little finger, except that this little finger had two thousand mega-tonnes of strength behind it. Even just one Chaos emerald, when acting _against _the power flow of the other six, was enough to disrupt things beyond the monsters ability to keep control.

The same power source which had given the tarry creature its body was backfiring on it; its form breaking down and slipping away into puddles of tar and filth, and as Sonic glimpsed through the light, he caught Shadow's eye, shining even in the golden glare.

Weirdly enough, he was smiling.

* * *

It was just like in the dream he'd had yesterday, when Knuckles and Cream had appeared through the portal... something tingled in the back of Chris's mind, pushing away the glare of the others' voices and the world outside.

At first Chris didn't have any idea what was happing – because whatever it was, it wasn't the kind of thing any human had ever been _supposed_ to feel. It was Chaos pure and simple, pounding and thumping in a constant pulse.

Even if Chris had been able to speak and tell someone this, he wouldn't have been able to explain. He could _feel_ the Chaos Emeralds' presence in this world. They were out there in the distance... probably close to Sonic and Shadow. It felt as if their battle were happening right up close, in front of his eyes. He could also feel the immense building pressure up within the seventh Emerald; the only one Sonic had been able to hang onto as the walls stole the others away. It was cracking under the growing straight of two Chaos beings trying to draw on it at the same time.

'_They're using it... all of the emerald's remaining power. They're pushing it beyond its limits and drawing on _their own_ life forces_.'

'... How do you _know_ that?'

It was only when Knuckles spoke that Chris realised he'd said all this aloud. The world shifted halfway back into focus. He could see Helen, still gripping his arm; Amy with her hammer clutched tightly even though she had nothing to throw it at; Grandpa's hands paused over the keypad.

'Uh...'

They were looking at him, waiting and watching as the world fell apart around them and Chris couldn't even _begin_ explaining what was going on.

'Chris!' Knuckles snapped loudly, as if thinking Chris hadn't heard him the first time (he actually _had_ he just wasn't paying attention). 'How do you know that? They're miles away you can't see what they're doing!'

'I... I don't know, I just _do_, they're out there, Knuckles. Sonic's found them! That Monster's using them as a power source! Sonic and Shadow... they're breaking out their own Chaos Control to try and disrupt the energy flow to... to break the other Emeralds away from it somehow. '

'Oh-kay, buddy, you remember that talk we had about you _not_ doing anything else to freak us out...' Danny started but trailed away in confusion. Chris wasn't really listening. He was too wrapped up in the image burned into the back of his mind. He could almost _see_ the Chaos Emeralds glowing and glistening in the green sky. Feel the clash of their drained power colliding with Sonic and Shadow's as they fought the Wall for control.

'Um... grandpa?' Francis asked uncertainly, clearly without any idea what was going on. Chris didn't blame her. He didn't understand it much himself. All he knew was that one minute, the world had been almost normal (given the circumstances) and the next, he had been aware of the Chaos Emeralds as easily as if they were sitting right in front of him. Like being blind one moment and opening your eyes in the next.

Grandpa shook his head, clearly having no better idea what was going on than Francis. Which was a shame, Chris thought. He could really use an explanation himself.

'What the blazes are you _doing_?' Knuckles snapped. 'What's happening?'

'I don't _know_ it's just _happening_, Knuckles, it... I mean it feels natural enough to me.'

And it _did_ feel natural, Chris realised. It was like a sense he didn't know he'd had had been switched on in his brain. Chris wasn't, by nature, a highly intuitive thinker. He worked according to rules and logic, and not to strange feelings that he couldn't place a handle on. He trusted what he could see happening in front of him. What he could touch, take apart and put back together.

But he found himself trusting _this_. Wondering whether this was the same way Sonic felt when he held a Chaos Emerald.

'Get a _grip_, Chris. This isn't natural and you know it!' Knuckles voice brought him back to the present. Humans _don't use_ Chaos Control that's practically a rule of your species!'

'But... this _isn't _Chaos Control,' Chris tried to explain_. _It couldn't be, could it? It didn't feel close to as powerful as Sonic seemed to be, for one thing. Besides it wasn't like he was_ using _the Emeralds – they were several miles away, beyond anyone's control and currently being drained of power–he just_ knew where they were. _'I-I can't do things like that.'

'Well you're doing _something_.' Grandpa muttered. 'And if it's connected to what happened earlier then I'm not sure it's a good thing.'

'Chris you're scaring me,' Helen blurted out. 'What's going on?'

'I don't think he knows,' Knuckles muttered accusingly, but honestly he didn't blame him. A person doesn't just _suddenly_ become able to sense Chaos Energy. They don't find new senses being switched on automatically.

Knuckles is wearing an: _I'll get an explanation out of you later_ face as he speaks. 'But you might as well try and explain anyway. What the heck are Sonic and Shadow doing out there?'

Chris blinked, trying to think. 'Who knows? They're probably fuelled by desperation right now... You'd be surprised what Sonic can do when he's desperate.'

Knuckles grunted to himself. 'Oh, would I?'

'Well whatever it is, they're doing it again,' Danny swallowed, and then the light returned –this time Chris felt it as well as saw it: the whiteness of Chaos energy exploding in the distant air. For one brief instant, he almost imagined he could see Cosmo glistening in a web of light, and then there was nothing. The walls were dipping lower now and coming down faster.

He felt the aftershock before anyone else did, except possibly for Knuckles, charging right through him like a psychic punch to the face. And then came the rainbow –six explosions bursting through the air like shooting stars, each one heading in a different direction as the Chaos Emeralds broke free from the powerful energy overhead, and raced off into the distance.

'What the... where are they _going_?' Amy yelled, and Chris would've had an explanation for her if he could only put it into words. The Chaos Emeralds had broken free, but neither sonic nor shadow had the power left to hang onto them. They would spread out and separate, the way they always did, but it was still better than them all being trapped within the negative web overhead.

In the back of his mind, he could feel the final seventh emerald shattering into a thousand pieces.

Chris hadn't been conscious for the first walls' arrival, so he hadn't heard the strange rumbling sound of Negative Chaos Energy colliding with stone and tarmac and grass and solid earth. This time he was. The whole world seemed to shudder as a thousand walls of energy contacted with the earth, the aftermath like an explosion of static ripping throughout the world. The screen of grandpa's laptop flickered and went black as its connection to the radio satellite died.

And then the world in front of Chris's eyes flickered and went black too.

* * *

Actually, Ella thought that everything had been going just fine until they actually _calmed down_ again.

Chao, as it turned out, were not as silly as they appeared to be. They seemed to know very well that something was wrong, and the moment Ella put down the phone (after Helen blurted out an instruction and hung up on _her_ first, which really wasn't like Miss Helen, who usually had such good manners...) they all seemed to leap into action, "chao chao-ing!" to each other and scurrying in the direction of doors and windows. Ella didn't even need explain what was going on. Cream also seemed to be very in control. It was as if the little thing had seen this all before, and she calmly lifted Cheese in her arms, took Ella's hand and pulled them quickly in the direction of the door.

The sound of the Walls colliding with the earth was the same as Ella remembered last time: a strange earthquake like trembling accompanied by a static like crackle of magical energy connecting with soil. When Ella had been a small girl in Spain, her family had lived quite near to an army base, and occasionally she had heard the distant rumbling as they tested out new weapons. The sound of the walls landing felt almost the same, and Ella was so used to such things that she hardly felt it.

Only now that they had ascertained that no Walls were coming down overhead did Ella relax.

And Cream started crying. Loudly.

'Why, sweetie, what's the matter?' Certainly Cream was just a little girl and wasn't beyond tears occasionally, but it wasn't like her to start a-stammering over nothing.

'It... It's alright. I'm okay, really.' Cream stammered, though it clearly wasn't true. Cheese was clutched tightly to her chest and the other Chao gathered around, chirruping in confusion. 'It's just... it's just that when the Emerald started breaking... the sound it made... it was just like...' Cream sniffed hard. 'I'm sorry.'

'You don't need to be sorry, Creamy, it's all a little scary right now, isn't it?' Ella patted the creature gently on the head. 'I'm sure everyone will be alright. This is just a little Chaos nonsense, hm?'

'N-no!' Cream squeaked. 'It's not that, Ella, it's...' She trailed off for a moment, kicking at the grass with her toes in an uncharacteristic gesture of confusion. Cheese purred lightly and rubbed his face against Cream's chin. 'I-I know that after everything we've done,' Cream said, softly, 'that I should be really brave by now, but... that _noise_ was just like the noise from the giant Planet-seed whuh-when... And there was _Cosmo_, a-and I-I thought for a second –just a little second– that maybe the Metarex were back, and t-that they're trying to take our Planet Egg away, except Earth doesn't _have_ a planet egg, does it? It just has a big lump of rock i-it's not the same here....' she gave a shaky smile. 'Isn't that silly? The Metarex are all gone now. T-they won't ever be coming back. But...'

Ella couldn't possibly think what Cream was talking about; but that hardly mattered. What was important was that a little girl was upset, and Ella had never been the type of person to let that rest. She pulled Cream close and let the small girl bury herself in the front of her apron, sniffling. The Chao around them chattered nervously in a kind of untied hum. If they'd been capable of human speech Ella would've sworn they were muttering about what all the fuss was about.

'Now dearie, I think it's time you explained all this to us, hm? So why don't we sit down, and see what we can do about it.'

Cream sniffled.

'There we are now, see?' Ella smiled. Heavens, she'd missed this girl. 'Now then, tell Ella all about Cosmo.'

* * *

'Alright, I'm starting to notice a pattern here...' Grandpa said the second Chris was conscious enough to understand anything anyone was saying. 'And I'm not talking about the Walls.'

'Chris, you alright?' Helen asked uneasily, letting go of the hand she'd clearly been holding for a while. Chris blinked, tried to come up with a coherent response, failed, and decided to content himself with just being able to sit up with only one person's help. It took him several seconds to remember what had happened, then several seconds more to accept the fact. Any sensation of Chaos he'd been aware of before had vanished and been replaced by the old ache. The whole world felt vague and distant. As if everyone were wearing masks of their own faces. As if the strange moment of reaching out and touching chaos itself with his mind had never happened.

...And he had totally passed out in front of _Helen_, hadn't he? _Great_. _Way to show people what you're made of, Thorndyke_. Chris hoped his face wasn't as bright red as it felt.

'Think we should try getting him to count fingers? That's what they always do for me when I take a football in the face, it really works.'

'_Danny_!'

'What? I'm just saying.'

...Thank god for Danny's eternal sense of normalcy.

'Francis, it's okay. I'm alright. I think...'

'Good. So enlighten me, Chris, is this a boy thing?' Amy snapped. It's _got_ to be a boy thing; you just like scaring the living daylights out of us, don't you?!'

'Sorry, Amy, in the future I'll try and not pass out without warning you first,' Chris muttered dryly. Then changed his expression when he realised everyone was looking at him the same way they had when he woke up in the laboratory and Danny told him his heart had stopped. About the only one who wasn't close to panic was Sonic who had the same expression –albeit a slightly tired one– on his face that he usually did: vaguely optimistic coupled with determined. He stood, bold and in full focus, where everyone else was vague and distorted. '...Sonic?'

'That's the name; don't wear a hole in it.' Sonic winked. 'You okay? You freaked us all out a little there.'

'He's not the only one freaking people out!' Amy snapped, thwacking Sonic about the head with a fist. 'What were you thinking using Chaos Control with only one emerald, Sonic?! Newsflash: _it doesn't work_! You could've gotten killed!'

'Gah! Cut it _out_, Amy, I'm right here an' in one piece aren't I?'

'Shadow...'Chris started.

'No idea,' Sonic shrugged. 'By the time I could think straight, he'd gone. You know what that guy's like. He probably went off looking for the Chaos Emeralds.'

'And the monster?'

'Disintegrated,' Sam said, alerting Chris to his presence. 'Almost the second the Chaos Emeralds broke away. Lucky thing, too. If it'd stuck around any longer we would've had more to deal with than just the walls, I mean...' Sam looked around uneasily. 'I think we've got enough on our plates as it is. That was about ten minutes ago now. I actually beat _Sonic_ here, so you can tell he was out of it.'

'All the people...' Helen whispered. 'I wonder how many more got caught up in this thing?'

'Hopefully less this time. We were more prepared for it, right?' Francis said, in the tone of voice of somebody expecting a hurricane but still somewhat hoping it would pass over unnoticed. 'And the evacuation seemed to go okay...'

'And if it helps, I think losing the Chaos Emeralds might've helped us out a little, guys,' Tails said evenly from where he was perched at the laptop. 'They were obviously being used for their energy up there, and now that they're gone, the energy processes within the walls have slowed down a lot.'

'Great! So how long do we have until they move again?' Francis asked.

Tails shrugged. 'It's hard to say... it could be another couple of days, maybe more. We'll only be able to tell for sure when they _do_ move.'

There was a collective groan. 'Not so great,' Danny muttered.

Chris started suddenly, remembering the sensation of something breaking in his mind. 'Wait, the last Chaos Emerald, what happened to it?'

Tails and Sonic exchanged am uneasy glimpse. 'Uh, yeah, about that...' Sonic started, and Tails finished the statement by holding something out towards Chris: the tiniest fragment of blue crystal.

Chris felt his heart sinking. 'Oh no.'

'We got all the pieces,' Tails mumbled uneasily, turning around to face a small cloth lying on the floor nearby, covered in shining blue fragments. 'But... I don't know how we're going to fix it. It's completely destroyed.'

'Well congratulations, Sonic.' Knuckles muttered coldly. 'Once again you've managed to achieve what nobody has ever accomplished before. You got a hold of one of the most powerful depositories of magic in the known universe... and you _broke it_.'

'I _said_ I was sorry,' Sonic muttered, looking as close to guilty as Sonic ever did.

'Well maybe it'll fix itself,' Amy said hopefully. 'The Master Emerald can, right?'

'We'd better hope so,' Knuckles snapped. 'Do you have any idea what'll happen if the power of that thing doesn't repair itself?'

'No,' Tails said. 'Do you?'

Knuckles opened his mouth, clearly ready to launch into a rant about the perilous nature of Chaos Forces. Then he stopped when he realised he didn't actualy have an answer. '...Actually, no. It's never happened before. But the Chaos Emeralds power is not to be trifled with. With one of them broken the entire system may have become unstable. Not that it wasn't pretty unstable to begin with,' he muttered, looking back at the sky.

...And then he froze.

Sonic clicked his fingers. 'Uh... Knuckles? You okay there?'

Knuckles said nothing. He merely blinked and slowly raised one hand into the air, pointing at something directly above and behind of them. It was only now that Chris noticed that thigns were perhaps just a little

Everyone looked.

When Chris replayed the event later on in his mind, he would casually forget about the part where he had to swallow down a cry of fear. Probably, so would Alisa Armstrong, though her scream was louder.

Whatever they were seeing was nothing more than the silhouette of a figure that could not possibly be human, and yet couldn't be compared to anything else. It was like a human that had gone seriously wrong. Its shoulders and arms and torso were at completely the wrong angles, and it had no legs –it just seemed to fade away into the distant greenness, like some kind of gigantic ocean monster was crawling out of the sea. A deep, black shape carved into the green sky. It seemed almost hollow, Chris thought, as if there were a dark emptiness in the sky, sucking on the sky and green light and their field of vision hard enough to make their eyes water. It had eyes, too. Except they hardly looked like eyes so much as glimmers of dull, red light, turned brown by the reflections of the Master Emerald shards. Except that Chris had never seen anything _brown_ glow like that. deep dark pits of nothingness behind them.

_Emptiness and nothingness_... Just like the gap between the worlds. The creature's head (it _was _a head, right?) lifted into the sky, craning on an impossibly-constructed neck and shoulders, it's arms stretched out to either side like a demon encasing the world in its grasp, and its mouth (jaws?) opened in a silent scream.

And then it faded.

It was Sam who found his tongue first: 'O-okay, _that_ never happened in the movie with the possessed high school.'

'Well whatever movie it _did_ happen in, the CGI didn't do it any justice,' Helen swallowed. 'What in the name of heaven _was_ that thing?'

'That... that would be the bad guy, I guess,' Grandpa swallowed, wearing his "and I thought I'd seen it all" expression. Chris took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He found himself glimpsing almost instinctively at Sonic, who also had his eyes fixed on the creature in... Chris couldn't read the hedgehog's expression at all. His arms were folded and his toes were tapping the way they did when he wanted to run at something but wasn't sure whether that was a good idea or not.

Knuckles stepped up beside him and gave him the look again. 'Well, you wanted answers, Kid. How's _that_ one for you?'

'Do you... do you have any ideas what it was' Chris asked.

'Not a clue in Chaos,' Knuckles muttered. 'But at least now whatever we're up against has a face... or... a semblance of one, at least.'

Chris swallowed, thinking that he'd felt a lot better off when it _hadn't._

* * *

The crow had curled up, all tidy like, at the edge of the tallest building in the city. It had watched with confused alarm as the Chaos Thingies destroyed its master's pet. It cried out in anguish as the pet's voices died away in his mind, and all fell silent. It had spat into the air at the sight of the Chaos Creatures still moving about, still breathing, still _living_, after destroying such a great beast as they had. It had felt the spasm of energy across the universe as the seventh Chaos Emerald shattered, and revelled in the sensation of dis-ease and confusion that ran throughout the cosmos as a result.

The crow chuckled gladly and stuck out its tongue to taste the air, feeling the bitterness of poisoned Chaos. The entire earth was coated in this same web of discord. This same darkness as called upon by his Master. And now it looked into the sky, and saw the figure forming. The deep, black shape that reflected the Nothingness within. It's half-flesh heart leapt in excitement.

His master was powerful indeed. He had grown strong enough to shape the Emptiness itself.

The crow screeched out loudly in greeting.


	25. Twenty Four: Coming to Terms

**Yep I'm back; again many apologies for the delay. University deadlines really suck your time away, though I am happy to say that I will soon be a graduate ;D.**

**Also to my helpful reviewer last chapter – Good point, but Tails IQ is only ever described as being 400 in the Sonic Battle game where "400 IQ Attack" is the name of one of his moves. It's never been suggested as so in other continuities. In the anime continuity, it's 300. Thanks for the shout out, though.**

**

* * *

**

Twenty Four.

_'...Chaos?'_

_'Is it there? Is Chaos here?'_

_'Chaoooos?'_

_'No... Not Chaos. Chaos isn't here. '_

_'Wrong. Chaos is here. Chaos must be here. It called for us; we came.'_

_'...But we can't see it. Why is Chaos not here? I heard... I heard Chaos calling.'_

_'We all heard it.'_

_'Is Chaos angry with us? Is that why it hasn't come?'_

_'No... Chaos is here, but...'_

_'Chaos is wrong. Chaos is... bad.'_

_'Bad, bad, all of it bad. The child...'_

_'Child?'_

_'Yes, the small one. She's sitting over there, look. Brown eyes...'_

_'Ohhh. That child. I remember her. Child is kind; gives us food, plays with us.'_

_'But the child is frightened.'_

_'The child is sad. Tears. Tears mean sad, right?'_

_'Usually.... I think. Maybe. Who knows? Child is a Not-Chao. Difficult to tell with Not-Chaos.'_

_'Why is she sad? Is she because Chaos hasn't come? Did it lie to her, too?'_

_'No, no, no, Chaos wouldn't lie to us, Chaos gets angry; sometimes Chaos breaks things, but Chaos never, never lies.'_

_'Then...what? What happened? Why are we here? Why did Chaos call us if it wasn't going to be here when we came?'_

_'No, no, don't you see?! Chaos is here. But Chaos isn't... right.'_

_'She's right. The air is filled with Chaos, but it tastes bad, it smells bad. Chaos isn't acting the way Chaos should.'_

_'Why? Is Chaos sick?'_

_'Chaos must be sick. A healthy Chaos wouldn't lie to us.'_

_'...Ask the Kind Child's Friend. Ask him! What does he know? Does he know what Bad Chaos wants from us?'_

_'Cheese! Ask Cheese for answers! Child's friend must know.'_

* * *

Something was wrong with the universe.

Which went without saying, really. Something was _obviously_ wrong with the universe. You only had to look out of your window to see that. Not to mention that her daughter had gone and disappeared again, and was probably right in the middle of the awful mess. Cream was a good girl, but Vanilla sometimes thought her far too trusting for her own good. Not that she'd ever say this to Cream, of course. It was nice to think that _somebody_ in the world still believed she could enjoy a tea party without worrying that something unpleasant was going to pop up and spoil things.

And something unpleasant always _did_ pop up. Vanilla supposed that was just what happened when you built your home in a place which turned out to be frequently tormented by evil geniuses with giant robots. Yet Cream's usual response to these disruptions was to walk up to them and see if she could calm things down with few kind words and a plate of teacakes.

Vanilla had lost a lot of good china that way, but still, one should never underestimate the persuasive power of teacakes.

In this case, the _something unpleasant _was the columns of pure light, filling the sky of an otherwise dark morning. The local Chao had been flocking to these pillars ever since they appeared last night. Even now they were arriving in their dozens, flying in flocks towards the lights, and disappearing, like moths drawn into flame.

When Vanilla finally stopped flitting around in a panic, she straightened herself up and headed for the Chaotix Residence. After all, they had found Cream the _last_ time she went missing, safe and sound. And even if they had no idea what was going on either, Vanilla thought, it would at least be comforting to not to have to worry alone.

Of course, on the way there, she'd happened to find a few shattered fragments of what looked like her best bone china and...

...Well. What mother could possibly remain calm after something like _that_?

So Vanilla had arrived at the Chaotix Detective Agency looking somewhat worse for wear and discovered that Espio usually kept a flask of her very own tea around for just such emotional emergencies.

Cream must have been rubbing off on them.

* * *

'Chaos Manifestation,' said Vector, biting down on a cigar (he didn't actually smoke the thing; it was never lit, but he'd gotten into the habit of chewing on it. It made him feel more intellectual. And anyway, it wasn't as if he was setting a bad example or anything... he always put it away when Cream visited, right?). '_That's_ what we've got here, Miss Vanilla. And a whopping big one of a one too, if you'll excuse me sayin'.'

'More like a _lot_ of big ones,' Espio said. Vector couldn't see him, but judging from the proximity of his voice, he was probably nearby. 'They're appearing all over the region.'

'And my baby is right in the middle of one of them,' Vanilla sighed, worrying her bottom lip. 'Dear me, I should've known things wouldn't stay quiet around here for long. If it isn't one thing then it's another...'

'Aw, you shouldn't get yourself worked up about _that_, Miss Vanilla,' Vector said, taking the cigar out of his mouth. 'I'll bet Creamy's just fine. All those trips into space and out to other worlds an' all... she must be the toughest little seven- year-old I ever set eyes on. Besides, we don't know for sure that those things is dangerous. The Chao seem pretty happy about 'em, right?'

'Yeah, but the Chao are also happy whenever _Chaos_ is around, Vector,' Charmy mumbles, swinging his legs against a tree branch and. 'I don't think they're good judges.'

'Charmy, remember that talk we had, about what not to say an' when not to say it?'

'Yeah?'

'_That_ was what not to say an' when not to say it.'

'Oh. Sorry.'

'Don't worry about it, Charmy, dear, it's always good to be honest.' Vanilla said.

Espio's outline shifted closer through the trees. _Nerves_, Vector thought. Espio _always_ got funny with his camouflage when he was nervous, and right now he was shifting in and out of focus faster than Sonic after a dose of Tails' extra strength coffee. 'Dangerous or not, this is something to do with the human world. Those columns are forming some kind of _connection_ between us... and it undoubtedly has something to do with Chaos, too.'

'Y'think?' Charmy blinked.

'I'd bet my last shuriken on it. What _else_ have you ever seen which can go between the worlds?'

'Yup. Definitely Chaos Control.' Vector nodded. 'An' where there's Chaos Control, there's _Sonic the Hedgehog_. See, Miss Vanilla? I betcha Cream is safe and—'

'Chris's portal.'

Vector looked at Charmy, blinking.

'I beg your pardon, dear?' Vanilla asked.

'Chris's portal,' Charmy repeated, swinging his legs and leaning dangerously backwards on the fence. '_That_ could pass between the worlds, remember? _And_ Eggman made a ship that could breach the world barrier, too, and _neither_ of them used Chaos Control. So this _could_ be something else. Maybe this is something to do with Chris...'

'Ah be serious, Charmy, how the heck could that one little kid do something like _this_?'

'...We're talking about _Chris_ here, Vector.' Espio coughed.

'...Oh. Yeah... Still, I reckon it's _got_ to be Chaos Control. Nothing else could make the Chao act up like this.'

'Vector, I'm not sure it _matters_ what's causing all of this,' Vanilla sighed. 'All that worries me is what happened to the _children_. I popped into Amy's house on the way over; _and_ young Tails' place. Neither of them was there, and I just _know_ they've gone running into all of this without thinking...'

'Well that way seems to have worked so far,' Charmy piped. 'I mean, they saved the Galaxy, right?'

'Yes, running headfirst into danger and poking it with a stick appears to be Sonic and his friends' _modus operandi_,' Espio's silhouette solidified a little, so that Vector could just make out the purple outlines of his body. 'I expect they're fine. It's the _world_ I'm concerned about. Something about all this feels very portentous.'

Vector knew exactly what Espio was trying to say, even if he didn't know what "portentous" meant. Even though he didn't like to admit to it, this situation was creeping Vector out something awful. Asides from the columns which _obviously_ didn't belong in the here and now, the whole _atmosphere_ seemed to be tingling with a sense of wrongness. And then there were the Chao... Basically, those little guys were like universal Rictor-Scales. Oh, sure, they _looked_ harmless enough, but you just watch what happens when people start punting them out of the way...

There was a time to sit around and analyse things, and that time was _never _when the Chao were making an exodus.

'When you're right you're right, Espio. An' on this occasion, I reckon you're right,' Vector threw the unlit cigar over his shoulder. 'You sit tight, Miss Vanilla. I think it's time The Chaotix Detective Agency did a little investigating.'

'Ooh, ooh! Does this mean we get to use the space ship, Vector?'

'Yeah, Charmy, it means we get to use the space ship.'

'Yaaaay!'

* * *

Between the Cities of Station Square and Albion Central, there were two things.

The first of these two things was the desert. Sonic had been for a race out there, once. The emptiness seemed to stretch on forever with nothing to get in your way (except for the occasional, smug human in a NASA designed jet car). It would've been a pretty nice place if it weren't for all that sand...

The second thing out there was the forest, clinging to the _other_ side of the Station Square, around the harbour. Though to be honest, it really much of a _forest_. The woodland was manmade, to give the people in Station Square something nicer to look at than the abandoned power plant, sheets of grey water, and a bunch of ships. The trees had only been planted thirty years ago (which to a tree is no time at all) but they had already hidden any signs of the power plant's existence, and the woodland had spread out into the surrounding desert, where it changed into scrubland.

And across this forest-come-scrub landscape, Sonic the Hedgehog was running.

Even as tired as he was, this wasn't a great distance. Nothing more than a light jog, in fact. Anyone else would've probably gotten lost in the woodlands by now, but Sonic didn't need to worry about that, either. When you're the Fastest Hedgehog Alive, things like maps and boundaries don't concern you. Geography is nothing more than squiggly symbols and dotted lines on paper. You just kept running, and eventually you ended up where you wanted to be.

He could've gone a lot further, if he wanted, but Sonic had decided to stay as close to Station Square as he could stand to be for a while. Besides, right now everywhere he went looked the same. Columns of green light glared against the landscape, and the air tasted of bad Chaos. He was also starting to have second thoughts about the _fog_ that was beginning to curl around his feet...

It was a puzzle. Sonic didn't _like_ puzzles. Puzzles were usually Tails department, and right now, Tails was too busy playing catch-up with Grandpa, and trying to work out why the Chaos Emerald had broken...

Sonic kind of wished he knew the answer to that, too. He still remembered the sensation (_breakingshatteringsplintering right through every bone, turning your _teeth_ inside out, tearing at your gut and brain and it'd felt so _awful_...)_ of the seventh Emerald shattering. The horrible feeling of _badstrangewrong-_ness lancing through his ribcage and his brain at the same time, tugging at instincts most creatures had forgotten they had long ago. He still couldn't quite believe they'd done it. The Chaos Emeralds were supposed to be indestructible.

They _were_ indestructible...

So how the heck had he managed to _shatter_ one? How could those Walls –and the creature controlling them– be so powerful that they could force him into that?

That was only problem with running, Sonic thought, as he came to a frustrated stop amidst a copse of trees. His feet could take him to more places than an X-Tornado, but they couldn't get him inside of his own brain. They couldn't lead him to the same answers that Tails found buried inside of his computers, or that Knuckles found in the scrolls left behind by his ancestors...

Not that Sonic was jealous, or anything. He wouldn't give up running for the world, but...

Well. Sometimes; just sometimes, Sonic wondered what it would be like to be _patient_.

There was another Wall in the distance, sucking the light out of the land it covered. From this far away, Sonic could almost _see_ the processes going on inside of it as it drained the earth dry. He tried not to imagine what (and who) could be trapped beneath those things. Humans lived in a lot of places, and Sonic _knew_ a lot of humans. Normally he'd be okay with this. Normally he could deal with the endless stretches of time between battles, because that was just the way life was and you shouldn't waste energy worrying about things you can't change. (Especially when those things usually consisted of Eggman and his crazy robots.)

Except that this time, more and more people were being killed every moment that he was standing still. People were stuck _inside_ of those things, and all he could do was wait, and run, and try to be _patient_.

A little patience would probably be useful right now. Patience would help him deal with the Walls and the waiting and the thought that there was something upthere, looking down on him and calling him _brother. _

Sonic shuddered inwardly and turned to race back into Station Square.

* * *

'Alright, let's try this once more from the top.' Knuckles said.

'...Knuckles, I _really_ don't think there's anything else I can tell you.'

'Well, try anyway, Chris.' Knuckles said evenly, knowing without looking that Chris had gone back to the computer and was speed reading at a ridiculous pace and trying to ignore that Knuckles was there. 'This could be important and _you're_ the one who was asking me to find the answers. I believe your exact words were "_We have to work this out before anything else happens, Knuckles. You're the only one who can_".'

Chris sighed. 'I did say that. I want answers just as much as you. But we've been through this a dozen times. I don't know how my portal has anything to do with all of this, I don't know why the Walls' making contact with the earth hits me before anyone else, I don't know how I ran into one and came out of it unscathed or why I can't do it again, and I don't know how I suddenly _knew_ just where the Emeralds were and what was going on from _two miles away. _ I just did_. _And aren't you supposed to have a Good Cop with you, or something?'

'Well, I would, but Sonic's off running. As usual, Knuckles said, dryly. 'So I'm afraid you're stuck with me. And I'm not _interrogating_ you, Chris; I'm just trying to work this out.'

'But how am _I_ the only lead you have? Don't you think the monsters attacking Station Square are a little more interesting?' Chris asked incredulously.

Knuckles grunted, making a mental note to locate the person who taught Chris the find art of sarcasm, and thump them. 'Chris, we've watched a _supersonic hedgehog_ save the universe, battled Metarex, made friends with someone who conducted... photosemetis... Or... whatever you call it–'

'Photosynthesis?'

'Right, that –in her sleep. Not to mention that we've visited planets where everyone fixes their problems by rubbing lucky coins and wishing on a full moon. I think I deserve some leeway on what I believe is "interesting".'

'...Okay, good point. But I _still_ don't see what it has to do with me.'

'To use a term you scientific types may understand: "it's all relative", Chris. In comparison to all of those things... well, I've been noticing stuff about you lately which stands out more. To me, anyway.'

Chris stopped typing. 'Like what?'

'Well, it's mostly just the usual Chaos fluxes...' Knuckles shrugged. Of course, those kinds of things happened to him every day (Sonic was practically one big, breathing Chaos Flux). Human beings sensing Chaos Energy and falling unconscious whenever an Emerald fluxed in their vicinity, however, _didn't. _'Nothing unusual, given our circumstances... but there's been something different lately, and it's coming from _you_.'

'And this has only been happening since the Walls appeared?'

'Ah... actually, no.'

Chris paused, going oddly quiet. 'Come again?

Knuckles shuffled, embarrassed to have not mentioned it sooner. 'It's not _just_ been happening around you since I got here. It's a lot stronger since I got here... before, it was so weak I hardly noticed it. Besides it didn't seem important, at the time.'

Chris leaned back in his chair and for just a second, Knuckles was caught up in the fact that the kid really _was_ a lot older than he looked. You could see it in his eyes, the same way you saw grief in Tails' and experience in Vanilla's. 'Oh-kay, why don't we try a different method here, Knuckles?'

'...Method?'

'Yeah,' Chris said in that older-than-he-looks voice. '_I'll_ be Bad Cop, and _you_ can answer the questions, because from the sound of it you already know _more_ than me here anyway. '

Knuckles shuffled uncomfortably. _Busted_. '...Alright fine. I wasn't sure, that's all. I wanted to hear some evidence from you without tainting it with what _I_ think. I could be completely wrong about this, but...'

But? Chris asked, looking worried. Knuckles didn't blame him.

'Look... most people who can control Chaos Energy, like Sonic and Shadow, have a kind of... Chaos signature surrounding their bodies. It's like an energy fingerprint. Maybe it's a Guardian thing, I don't know, but I'm able to sense these signatures. That's how I found the Master Emerald when it was broken into pieces...'

'So why don't you use it to find the Chaos Emeralds?

Well it's not like I have an inbuilt radar for Chaos Energy, Chris, I just know Chaos when I see it, that's all. The Master Emerald is different. And sticking to the point, Chris...

'Right, right. Sorry. So these signatures... You're saying that everyone who uses Chaos Control has one?'

'Yes. It's like an aura, distinct to every individual, but always undoubtedly Chaos.'

'What does it feel like?'

Knuckles hesitated, realising he'd never been asked that before, and was unsure how to explain it. 'I'm... not all that certain. It's just there_. _ It feels like _something_, I suppose, but I'm not really aware of it. It always seemed perfectly normal to me. I was surprised when I discovered it wasn't something _everybody_ did.

Chris shifted. '...Just like what happened with me earlier, when I sensed the Emeralds, right?'

'Something like that. But I've never _sensed_ the Emeralds _that_ way. You were able to read them from a great distance, even if only for a moment. And what's more, I've been sensing an Aura around you the same way I do around Sonic. Except... _not_ the same...' Knuckles grit his teeth in thought. 'No... It's not the same at all, really. That's just the closest thing I can compare it to...'

'How's it different?' Chris mumbled, looking as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

'Well Sonic's Aura is a lot stronger, for one thing... and I don't think you could ever use Chaos Control, if that's what you're thinking. It's like your aura is coming from _within_ you, rather than surrounding you. That's the best was I can explain it.'

Chris didn't say anything. No surprise, really.

'It started when you first arrived on our planet.' Knuckles went on, and when Chris looked at him in alarm, he quickly added, 'Well you _had _just transported through the Master Emerald to get to our world. It figures that you'd have a little residue Chaos on you, and it's not like you showed any... potential or anything. How could you? You're human. Humans don't do that.'

'So you keep reminding me.' Chris said.

'Hm, The thing is, Chris, now I'm not so sure about that...'

'Knuckles, you're starting to creep me out a little.'

'The feeling's mutual, Chris.' Knuckles turned and headed for the door, deciding that maybe it would be better not to put the kid's head through a blender anymore today. '...Better get back to work. Those people down there are going to need us.'

* * *

With all the confusion sand activity on the streets, nobody had noticed Alisa Armstrong leaving.

She was glad of this, even if she wasn't entirely sure _where_ she was going to go, and even though a part of her would've liked to stick around Tails (who asides from creeping her out a little, at least seemed to know more about all of this than anybody else. But since nobody seemed to want to tell her a damned thing anyway, she hadn't really seen the point. Like so many people in Station Square, Alisa figured that she was trying to retreat into familiar territory, to reassure herself of normalcy. Except that she didn't _have_ any familiar territory to retreat into.

Just that morning her biggest concern had been getting to her new job on time, and now... Well, now any skills she had were being outdone by a bunch of off-worlder's and child geniuses.

Not to mention that the heels on both her shoes had snapped off on the way home. Yay for symmetry.

Alisa sighed impatiently and hurled her broken shoes into the nearby trash can... Which immediately collapsed on its side. Great. She could add littering in public to her list of today's incompetence's. Alisa sighed, rubbing her temples and walking over to the bin to try and clear up some of the mess.

It was here that she found the Chaos Emerald.

Not that she had realised it was a Chaos Emerald, at first. All she could make out was a yellow glow shining beneath a pile of bottles, plastic containers, drinks cans, and torn carrier bags: a soft-yet-sharp glow that seeming to penetrate even solid metal. A sensation of static began to grow all around her, so powerful that it felt as if hairbrush bristles were running all over her body. It made the hairs on the nape of her neck stand upright.

It took Alisa a few moments to stop freaking out and take a few steps back towards the trash. Gingerly, she knelt down and reached into the garbage, pushing away the carrier bags and metal until her fingers closed around a glowing object, roughly the size of a human fist. The light of it seemed to rub off on her skin and cling to her like something tangible. The world around her seemed still and quiet and so strangely _okay_ that she could almost forget that the last few hours had been arguably the worst of her life.

Never in her life had Alisa seen anything quite so beautiful.

She was so caught up in this discovery, that she didn't notice the drain cover behind her start to twist and rattle. Or at least she didn't until it burst open with a resounding screech, and the bats (or flying rodents, or machines or _whatever_ they were) burst out at her in a flurry of thousands and wrapped her up in a black cloud before she could even draw a breath to scream.

* * *

Miles Prower had a problem. There was nothing left for him to fix.

The X-Tornado had already been pieced back together as best as it could be. The portal room was filled with things that were either beyond repair, or weren't damaged enough to bother with, and it wasn't like they could do anything for the shattered Chaos Emerald except cross their fingers and hope it restored itself. _And_ it was only two-fifteen in the afternoon; much too early for sleep. So, with nothing to tinker with, Tails was left alone in the lab with only his thoughts for company, and his worries for distraction.

Or at least, he was until Chuck turned up with print-outs of the latest Wall Analysis from Thorndyke Industries. As well as donuts and coffee, for which Tails would be eternally grateful. He decided not to ask exactly _where_ Chuck had gotten donuts at a time like this. It wasn't like the local cafes were open for business. But still, food was food.

'You know, I think my health was really suffering, what with my having to eat _both_ of these donuts every day for six years.' Chuck said, swallowing the last of his coffee. 'They still sell them as "by one get one free" at the Java Club. Chris doesn't like them, Ella says they mess with my health plan, _Lindsey_ says they're bad for her figure and Nelson... Well, I don't think Nelson ever stops to eat, personally. You were the only person I could ever share them with.'

'Well, I'm glad to be of help with _something_ today, at least,' Tails gave a half smile as he bit into a donut. 'Where are all the others, anyway? I haven't seen anyone for a while...'

'Last I checked Danny and Francis were helping out with the Square refugees ... Helen's waiting on those scans we took of her and Chris earlier... I _think_ she took Cream and Amy back to the manor earlier. Sonic's... well, Sonic could be just about anywhere, I suppose... No idea where Chris is. Probably with Knuckles. '

Tails frowned at that sentence. 'You think they're _still_ talking?'

'Hm...' Chuck grunted. '"Talking" isn't really the word I'd use. The last I saw of them, they were sitting in the cafeteria. Knuckles was pacing back and forth and muttering about "chaos distortions" and "unseen consequences" and so on, and Chris was muttering back at him and looking irritated. Knuckles is convinced that Chris is up to his neck in _something_, though for the life of me I can't think what.'

'...Me neither. I won't think about it too much if you won't.'

'Deal. I have enough on my mind as it is. We _all_ do. Speaking of which, take a look at this, Tails,' Grandpa spread the sheets of papers out on the junk-scattered table. Atop the pile was a map showing Station Square and the surrounding desert, and all over this map were scattered many small, green dots, each accompanied by a set of coordinates. It was difficult not to feel intimidated by how many there were.

'So this is a map showing where all of the Walls are now, right?' Tails asked, pointing at the map.

'Yes. There are _over one hundred_ of those walls within our current scanning range, and please understand that we're limited right now by the lack of satellites. We have no _idea_ what's happening further away from us. Fortunately, most of the _major_ satellite systems appear to be unaffected, so we won't have to worry about being hit by an out of control air-missile or anything... It's just the communication network that's down. And we have no idea what's _causing_ any of it...' Grandpa frowned in intense concentration. 'Well... we know that whatever it is, it's huge, humanoid shaped, filled the whole damn skyline a few hours ago, and has now disappeared again completely.'

Tails looked up from the papers, blinking in disbelief. '...So it hasn't showed up on _any_ of the lab's scanners?'

'Nope.'

'Not even Radar? Sonar? _Rictor Scale_? _Anything_?'

'Not a single one.' Grandpa sighed. 'As far as all of our equipment –that's still working, anyway– is concerned that freakish being in the sky never even _existed_. So either everyone in Station Square was having the same hallucination, or we're dealing with something that can totally disrupt technology. And that other monster, you know, the one that Shadow and Sonic broke a Chaos Emerald destroying? _That _never showed up on the sensors either. _Nothing_, Tails! The whole world has been brought to a halt by something our computers don't believe is _there_!' Grandpa laughed humourlessly.

'Yeah... that's weird.' Tails murmured. He had been trying not to think about the creature that had filled the skies above them, and then disappeared. What you could _see_ was easy enough to deal with. What you couldn't see, however...

And here they were, discussing defeating an enemy they had only ever seen as a gigantic shadow in the sky over their heads. Like some kind of God...

Tails shuddered. _Okay don't think about that. _

'Damn, I wish I understood this all a little better,' Chuck sighed tiredly, and Tails was uncomfortably reminded for the second time in as many days just how much _older _Chuck seemed to be. 'You've been coming out with some strange things since you got back, Tails... all this talk about Metarex and trips around the universe... what on Earth (or rather _not_ on Earth) have you been _doing_ all these years?'

'...Um... Kind of a lot,' Tails mumbled uneasily. Still, he thought, at least they weren't dealing with it all _alone_ this time. One of the worst things about fighting the Metarex had been that Tails and Chris had been the only people on board the _Blue Typhoon_ who had known how to fix things. And the Blue Typhoon had been _huge_. It was a lot of work for the two of them, and the fact was, as smart as Chris had become, he still didn't have the foggiest idea how Chaos Control worked.

Or at least, he hadn't... until a few hours ago.

Which was something else it was probably better for him _not_ to think about.

And now here they were, Chuck and he, back together and working on yet another crazy, giant scheme to save the world. Making jokes and eating donuts, as if nothing had ever happened... Even though so much _had_ happened that Tails couldn't even begin to explain it all...

So instead of trying to, he just jumped down from the stool he was sitting on and pulled Chuck into a hug. Chuck was obviously a little taken aback, and took a few moments to return it but when he did Tails almost had a flashback.... to a portal opening in fromt of him, drawing them back into their own world.

'...Well that took a while;' Grandpa said as soon as Tails pulled away. 'I was beginning to think you weren't as happy to see me as I was to see you.'

Tails chuckled. 'I'll always be happy to see you.

'Glad to hear it... So... bad week, huh?'

'Mm. More like a bad _year_. Well. A good year with some really, _really_ bad bits in it. I'm... well, we're really glad to be here, Chuck, even if it did happen by accident.'

'Well, Lord knows, something good had to come out of all this...'

Tails sighed. It's kind of surprising how _little_ saving the universe boosts your self confidence. People have told me that we should be able to handle anything after all we've done, but... I don't know. Sometimes I guess it just makes you feel a little smaller...

'Looks like someone's developed a self esteem problem.' Chuck folded his arms.

'I guess so... I'm just _worried_ that's all, Chuck. I _hate_ not understanding things. We have no idea what's going on back home... And then there's Gerta... can't believe I _left_ her like that...'

Chuck blinked. 'Gerta? Who's _Gerta_?'

'Uh...' Oh. Oops. Tails gulped. The whole _naming-your-potted-plant_ thing always seemed weird to people who didn't know where the seed came from. Tails wasn't sure how to explain it without also having to explain everything else that had happened... and he didn't know if he wanted to do that yet. Not even to Chuck. 'Well, she's a... Erm... She's a plant, I mean; she's just a seedling right now, I... she came to us a few weeks ago and... uh... Gerta sounded right. We're hoping she'll get... bigger.'

'...Ah.' Chuck put on a pretence of typing on a (broken) computer, apparently for the sake of Tails dignity. 'I see. So, it's a little like Ella and that Cactus of hers, eh? The one she named after Amy.'

Tails looked up, embarrassment forgotten. 'She still _has_ that?'

'Sure does. It's almost the same height as Cream now. Ella talks to it every day...' Grandpa chuckled. 'At first I think she did it for reassurance, since she didn't have you kids around to look after and apparently this old man doesn't hold a good conversation, but eventually it became a habit. Sometimes I have a chatter with it as well, whenever I happen to be in the kitchen.'

'Oh...' Tails was quiet for a moment, mulling over this revelation, imagining Chuck having a heated debate with a potted plant. He couldn't help but snigger a little. 'So... You don't think it's silly?' He asked. 'Talking to potted plants, I mean...'

'Of course not. It's perfectly natural, why, some people even say it makes them grow better, which _would_ account for Ella's cactus... Ah, that was a chuckle I heard, wasn't it? So you _do_ still laugh.'

'Sometimes,' Tails smiled. 'Amy – um, _our_ Amy, that is, not the cactus – says that I don't take enough care of my garden... but I always looked after Gerta.'

'I'm sure you do,' Grandpa smiled. 'And don't worry about it seeming strange to other people, Tails. The truth is that most people do that kind of thing.' There was silence for a moment before Chuck went on, quietly. 'Do you know I've kept a pressed flower that my wife gave me inside a book she never finished reading for about thirty years?'

'You do?' Tails felt slightly awe struck. 'After all this time... you still have it?'

There was a strange look in Grandpa's eyes. A kind of misty, happy-sadness (if one could even be happy _and_ sad at the same time). 'Sure I do. It reminds me of her. We didn't have as long together as we hoped, but... little things like that flower... I suppose in some odd way, they keep me close to her.'

Tails felt the lump in his throat (one that was almost always there, these days) tightening slightly. 'But... but they're just _things_, right? Like... like cogs or, or tools. They either have a purpose or they... They...'

'Store our feelings. Our memories,' Grandpa said. 'The strangest things can have meaning to a lot of people, Tails.' Grandpa said. 'They help bring us closer to things. To people we love and the things we've lost. It's just what we silly, thinking, feeling animals do, I guess,' Grandpa chuckled, crackling his knuckles a few times. 'But listen to this old man going on and on... so much for the rational scientist, eh, Tails? ...Tails?'

Tails didn't answer.

Not that he didn't _try_ to, it was just that whatever answer he had got caught up in his throat, and when he swallowed it, the thoughts came back as tears.

Grandpa Chuck made that little pressed flower, that cactus, Gerta, all seem so important... But Gerta was just a _plant_... she wasn't anything more than that (no matter how much he might've hoped otherwise). They were all just things that grew and bloomed, and died...

Grandpa Chuck's knuckles stopped cracking abruptly. 'Tails, what's wrong?'

Tails tried to answer again, and again it was a useless venture. It was hard to talk when you were crying. Grandpa Chuck stood there for a few moment, staring at his small friend in what was probably alarm. '...Okay. So. You weren't kidding about having a bad year then, were you?' he said, gently. 'And Gerta... whoever she was, you met her in that year. Tell me, what happened, Tails?'

Tails shook his head and droplets of water leapt across the analysis sheets in front of him, soaking through the paper. Grandpa paused for a moment, then sighed quietly under his breath. 'Well, I understand... I don't much care to talk about people after they leave either. And I'm an old man now, Tails, little as I feel like it sometimes... I've seen a lot of old friends die. But I'm still sure I'd rather talk about them and remember them than to lock them away and try not to think of them ever again. '

Tails heard this, and understood it. Thinking of Grandpa Chuck as _old_ was a frightening thought, though. One he didn't want to entertain. Bad enough to lose someone young, doing something important...

Chuck reached out and pulled up a seat. Then he sat down so that he was sitting opposite Tails and looking directly at him. 'Well then, I'll go first, shall I?' he said. 'My wife's name was Christine Thorndyke. We were crazy about each other we married when we were both much too young to know better. Now, it's your turn... Who was Gerta?'

Tails sniffed and wiped his eyes on his fur. Gerta...

Gerta was just a plant. 'No... Not Gerta. Her name was Cosmo.'

* * *


	26. Epilogue

**In this case, all commentary will be saved for the end of the chapter.**

* * *

Epilogue. 

The bird found his Master buried deep, deep, deep within the darkest corner of the world that he could find; within a mountain that was carved hollow, and filled with chaos energy which flowed around them like hot, melted rocks.

He had to hop back into the Nothingness in order to get to this place (that foul _awful_ Nothingness; he hated going there, hated it just _being_ there, but he had no choice; His Master was too far away from Station Square for Caulk to just _fly_ to him, and besides, there was no normal way into the mountain from the outside. Just tunnel after tunnel after tunnel, none of them leading anywhere). It was cold and terrible, and just the thought of it made him clutch his chest where his heart should have been. Travelling through the Nothingness was like trying to go nowhere, but always ending up somewhere. Usually somewhere far away. You could take a few steps inside of it, and end up miles away from where you had been before. In fact, when you weren't trapped in it for a few thousand years, the Nothingness was a lot of use. So for a few minutes, Caulk endured the emptiness, hopped between the worlds and landed in the dark depths of His Master's cavern.

Caulk scuffed his claws against the damp gravel on the floor and sucked in musty old air through clenched teeth. The Nothingness had been stupid and wrong, but this... This was a good place. Cold and quiet and very, very solid; and bright, too. Brighter than it should ever have been so deep below the dirt. Master had created things to decorate the darkness. There were lights shining from green candles and bits of glass and steel and clothing scattered across the gravel floor. Caulk had spent so long trapped in the Void, trapped without flesh or bone or feathers (had he _always_ had feathers? Hard to be sure... it had been a very long time). He had been nothing more than thoughts, strung together in the darkness. Caulk hadn't even had his own body for company, and he had forgotten what touch, taste and sound were like. Now he wanted to sense everything and feel everything. A dripping, dark cavern was as wonderful to him as a spring meadow.

And in the darkness before him, moved a disjointed shadow.

'...Master?'

'One moment, Caulk.'

Caulk watched with interest as his Master cast one metal coated hand in and out of the golden flame. It was the Master's fleshy hand, he realised. The one with bones beneath the metal. The one which, as Caulk had learned from his experiences back in station square, would hurt and burn if help too close. He was about to warn master of this when Master found out for himself just how painful flame could be when it touched living flesh. Master held it there for a long while, watching the skin changing colour as it burned. Then, when the skin was black and stunk of fire, Master pulled his hand away. The candle fell to the floor and extinguished.

'...Ah. Is _pain_, Master. _This_ is what pain feels like in flesh. Just _flesh_, mind you, nothing else. Metal doesn't feel pain. Neither does wood or plastic stuff. The feeling is not pleasant to Caulk, neither.'

'...Yes, I remember it now.' Master said evenly, clearly thinking very hard about things that Caulk didn't feel it his place to question. 'It's a curious sensation, isn't it? And it doesn't always end as soon as I remove my hand, either. Sometimes it lingers... attentiveness appears to be a factor. The more I focus on it the worse it becomes.' Master curled his flesh hand into a tight fist. 'Forgive me, I was distracted... what is it that you came to tell me, Caulk?'

Caulk flapped his wings, preening his steel tipped feathers as best he could. His new neck wasn't long enough for him to reach the awkward places. 'There is news of goodness. But there is news of badness too. In which order does Master want it?'

'In whichever order Caulk would prefer to _give_ it. But try and keep it concise, would you? You tend to ramble a bit...'

Caulk squawked loudly. 'Ah. News of goodness first then, good news will sit nicer in Master's insides. The Energy Channels are working plenty fine. They go up, and they came down again in new places. They has new energy to drain, more lives to eat. There will be plenty of food for your creatures soon.'

'Good. We still have plenty of life energy left over from the first gathering... But this _will_ run out. We need all the power we can get.'

Caulk coughed uneasily. 'Ah... we has not so much power _now_, Master. Not so much.'

'...And that, I take it, is the bad news?'

'Is so, Master. The Chaos Creature has returned. Two of them this time, two brothers. They came and they killed Master's creation.'

'The oil creature?' Master sounded displeased. Not good. 'They destroyed it _completely?'_

'Yes. They killed it dead, tore it apart. There is nothing left of it but black, black puddles. And worse still, Master, they has stolen back the six Chaos Emeralds we had and thrown them away. Stupid creatures.'

There was silence for a moment. Caulk tried to work out whether Master was angry, surprised, or scared, or all of those things at once. '...Master?'

'...It's alright, Caulk, it's... Well, I had _expected_ them to defeat the Oil Beast... even with the Chaos Emeralds to support it, it was only _oil_... But I didn't anticipate losing the Chaos Emeralds._ Two_ of them, you say?'

'Yes indeed. Is 'hogs. Ugly, bright coloured, big mouthed 'hogs. They use Chaos Control.'

'I see. That is unfortunate. And we'd only just _retrieved_ those Emeralds, too... These creatures are very powerful, aren't they?'

Caulk swallowed, an uncomfortable feeling settling in his steel stomach. 'Master does not anger... Master is not unhappy with Caulk?'

'Why should I be, Bird? After all, the plan was not yours. It isn't your fault that it failed' Master sat, the chair appearing where he desired it to be, carving itself almost instantly out of the rock, and said curiously to himself. 'I wonder if it felt any pain...'

'Shouldn't be thinking so, Master.' Caulk sniffed. 'Beast brother was nothing but oil an' dirt. No flesh. No flesh at all. Only flesh feels pain.'

'That's true. A shame... It would've been interesting to watch I expect. And you say that that together they destroyed my distraction? But surely they had only _one_ chaos emerald between them... How could they have _possibly_...?'

Caulk scratched his beak. 'Caulk isn't knowing the how's and why's of that, Master. Caulk knows only what he saw. They destroyed beast, and they destroyed the Energy Pipe that it guarded same time.'

Master was staring firmly into the flame of another candle. You could see the crawling blackness inside the pits of his empty eyes. They were good eyes, strong and dark, but Caulk thought that he had much preferred the eyes His Master had before, in their old life, before they were imprisoned. 'I should've known better, I suppose, than to give that creature _all_ of the Chaos Emeralds we'd found... but Oil was all I had to _use_ at the time, you see.. I needed to create _something_ in order to keep them busy... Without the Chaos emeralds it would never have grown strong enough to be a nuisance... and with them... well, it should have been _invincible_.'

'Will all respect meant, Master, Invincible it _wasn't_. Chaos Creatures are _strong_.' Caulk flapped his heavy wings and landed on the stone table his master had made. 'But Master should not be blaming self. Is not Master's fault Chaos Creatures are stubborn spiky spike-heads.'

Master reached out with his metalv hand and ruffled the steel tipped feathers atop Caulk's head. There was static in the touch. 'Thank you, Bird. Well... they gained little else I suppose... They did not prevent our Energy Pipes from returning to the surface; the transfer continues. And I have plenty of energy now for creating as many Beasts as we require... But if these... Chaos Creatures have worked out how to _destroy_ My Surfaces... even just one at a time...'

Caulk purred uncomfortably. 'Then we has problem trouble, does we not, Master?'

'Probably, yes... Still, they are few, and our beasts shall be many. I doubt they could destroy my Energy Drains as quickly as we can create them... '

Caulk frowned to himself. Master spoke of one thing, but looked as if h meant another. His expression was anxious confused. 'Something else troubles Master? Something he has not told Caulk?'

'Hm? Oh. Yes, something does as a matter of fact... A piece is missing.'

'Piece?' Caulk blinked. 'What piece does Master speak of? Is Master missing limb? Master can simply make new one, yes?'

Master chuckled dryly. 'Not a piece of my _form_, Caulk. Of the _Master Emerald_. Or at least... I think that's what it must be. I thought I sensed a disturbance earlier but only now am I sure. There is... a gap within our surfaces. One wall less than there should be... well, actually, there are _two_ walls less than there should be now, thanks to those foul chaos creatures... When we finally shattered the Master Emerald into pieces, caulk, one of the Fragments must have escaped our _reprogramming_ efforts. It is here now. In the human world. Probably lying in the dirt somewhere.'

Caulk scratched his beak again. 'Is bad... We need this last piece, yes? We use it?'

'Yes, I think we _shall_ need it eventually. Though granted, we have more than enough power right now. Things appear to be working out well for us, energy wise.' Master watched new flesh and skin crawling over his scarred fingertip, replacing what the fire had burned away. 'No matter. We will look for it and it is certain to turn up.'

Or whatever it was that he was walking on right now, truth be told they didn't look very much like feet. Maybe the feet an insect might have if it were much, much bigger. He stood again and Caulk watched, fascinated as ever, as his body twisted and turned and melted together until His Master had two legs on which to walk.

'We shall deal with these Chaos Creatures in time. Powerful as they may be, we _still_ have the energy of the Master Emerald on our side... More than enough to kill them. Onto other matters. What about the female? Did you bring it?'

'Indeed we did Master, indeed we did. We stored her good and proper between the worlds. She is comfy safe.'

'And you're certain that she is the right one? That she came from the place they call Sol Alasmo?'

'Is her indeed. Master was correct. Computers told us all we need to know. The female is one of them. Master will speak with her now?'

'Yes. Come with me. I hear that human beings have a certain _fondness_ for animals... Perhaps you can help me convince her.'

* * *

It was Helen who Sonic found first when he returned to the city. She was on the sixth floor of the University, where they had been yesterday for Grandpa Chuck's talk. She was out of her wheelchair, curled up on a sofa that Danny had placed in the laboratory especially for her. She sat with papers scattered across her lap and across the table in front of her, and she was staring at these papers so hard that her eyes were watering a little.

At least, Sonic figured that was why they were watering.

'Hey, Helen, what's hanging?'

'Oh... Sonic... hi.'

'What, just "_hi_"?' Sonic cocked his head, staring at Helen firmly for a moment. He grinned. 'Don't I even get a smile, or something? You _could_ be happier to see me.'

'I am happy to see you.' Helen mumbled, clutching some of the papers much too tightly in her hands. 'I always am...'

'So then, what's got'cha tail in a twist? Well... you know... if Humans had tails, that is.'

Helen didn't laugh.

Which was just weird. Helen _always_ laughed at Sonic's jokes, even the ones which were really bad. If Sonic hadn't been convinced that something was wrong before, he was now.

'No no, I.. .well, yes, but that's not why I'm freaked out, I... It's about Chris, Sonic. Those scans that we had taken earlier... they've finished processing. We have some X-Rays and...'

'Yeah?' Sonic really had no idea what an X Ray was supposed to be, but whatever it was it sounded kind of... invasive. Helen took a deep breath.

'Do you see that machine on the wall over there? The flat computer screen?'

Sonic looked around. 'You mean _that_ thing?'

'Yes, that. Would you turn it on for me?'

Sonic looked at Helen for another long second, knowing that\whatever he was feeling right now was very, very wrong. It was kind of like how Amy knew when he was going to be late for something, or how Tails could tell when a computer was about to blow up when he wasn't even in the same room. Amy knew Sonic's patterns, Tails knew machinery, and Sonic... well...

Sonic knew _fear_. He didn't always know what people's expressions meant, but he knew exactly what they looked like when they were really, really terrified. It wasn't something he really thought about himself (when a situation was bad enough to be freaking out about then actually _doing_ that freaking out and making it worse would just be stupid. Being scared was no fun, and mushy stuff was icky, boring and _slow_.) But he knew it when he saw it in other people.

And right now, Helen was really, _really_ freaked out. And not by something that Sonic could fight back against and get rid of.

'...Helen ,what's wrong?'

'Sonic just... just turn it on,' Helen bit back an annoyed snap, and then looked guilty/ 'Please, i think you really need to see this and... whatever you do, don't just go _running_ off after this, okay? We really need to talk.'

'Oh...kay,' Still _no_ idea what she was going on about, but Sonic reached out and flicked the switch on the side of the monitor anyway. An image flickered into view before him, a strange bundle of black outlines surrounding white shapes. A little like that scan they had taken of Cosmo, except that...

'Whoa... man. Uh, okay, so... so this is...?'

'An X-Ray and Radiation Level overlay of somebody's chest and ribcage,' Helen said. 'Chris's to be exact. The one on the left, the bigger one? That's... that's mine. That's the way that a human's internal structure should look.

Sonic looked back and forth between the two images een though he really didn't have to. The difference between them was staggeringly obvious, even to someone who hadn't known what an X-Ray was until just now (heck, he'd never really needed to know). Sonic felt his heart clenching just a little inside of his chest. 'I... you humans you... you have your hearts in about the same place we hedgehog's do, right?'

'Pretty much.' Helen whispered.

'...Oh... okay... So then, uh... I have a question. What's that bright, green, glowing thing where Chris's heart should be?'

_**End. **_

* * *

**Ye'gods, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to say that one, single, final line. **

**So, uh... All That's it, then. The first chapter is over. I'd like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has stuck with this throughout. Especially those people who have offered concrit or useful information. I still have a lot to learn with regards to my writing, and every little bit helps. Your input means a lot to me. **

**So, yeah, there'll be a sequel to this, and hopefully I'll be able to refine my skills a little more in that. You get better every time you write, after all. I'm looking forwards to continuing this and I sincerely hope you'll all show up for the sequel and whatever comes after it. I have a lot more characters to explore, a lot more to say, and a lot more escapades to get these guys into. Hopefully there'll be some more humour in the upcoming series' too. I really need to lighten the mood after an ending like **_**that**_**...**

**So... I think that's all I can say really, except for another big thank you :) **

**-Scarab**


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